Looking out my backyard window during the pandemic lockdown, I had plenty of time to reflect. We are a typical family with all the typical things: 2 kids, 2 dogs, modest house, stay-at-home Mom and corporate American Dad. Pretty unremarkable to be honest, very typical and definitely nothing miraculous going on. How did we get to where we are today? What events led us to getting married, having these kids, being in this moment right now? The answer is, a series of miracles.
I met my wife through my first job. I was the analyst on a project, and she was the project manager. I didn’t usually work on her projects, but the usual analyst was out on leave. I was in Atlanta and she was in St Louis. Dating folks in other states wasn’t really part of my program I had going at the time, but we instantly had chemistry. Four months after meeting on the phone through work, we met in New Orleans and the rest is history. Here we are 20 years of marriage later. Miracle number 1.
It took over a year for my wife to get pregnant with our first-born. Through that process we learned that my wife and I are both carriers of the cystic fibrosis gene. There would be a 1 in 4 chance our child would have cystic fibrosis. Average life expectancy is around 40 years. Our son Hunter was born healthy by the grace of God. Our second child, our daughter, is adopted. We went through multiple failed in vitro attempts to try for a second child. Through DNA testing and multiple cycles of analyses, the doctors said future attempts would not be wise and the fact that we ever got pregnant with our son was remarkable. With that news, we started the adoption process. We had heard all the horror stories of failed adoptions - people being in the delivery room and the birth mother changing her mind, people going years with no match, etc. Within 5 days of signing on with the agency, we were matched with a woman in Round Rock, Texas who was having a little girl. We could not believe it happened so quickly and were a little suspect to be honest. Five months later my wife cut the cord as our daughter was delivered while I stood in the hallway sobbing with tears of joy. We named her Isabella, the same name the birth mother had chosen. Our kids are miracles 2 and 3.
March 2018 changed our lives forever. My wife was diagnosed with a very rare and deadly form of cancer, stage 3 cholangiocarcinoma or bile duct cancer. It is rare but now more frequently diagnosed because in the past it was commonly misdiagnosed as pancreatic cancer. The 5-year mortality rate for cholangiocarcinoma is 80%. For a few days, it felt like you constantly had a cinder block on your chest with shortness of breath, fear, anxiety. We made a decision that we were going to fight and not take one day for granted. No one is guaranteed tomorrow so we chose to rejoice in each day and take this cancer head on. That involved lots of prayer and support from family and friends. The community of Celina played no small part in that journey. People we didn’t even know showed up with meals and gifts. People we did know offered to help in all kinds of ways. Celina's lifestyle is not something we take lightly. We are so grateful for this town and the people in it. It was hard to accept the help at first but became easier after a conversation with a good friend after I declined her offer of help. She said, “Don’t steal people’s joy, let people help you.” After 15 rounds of chemo, several major procedures, and a third opinion from a transplant surgeon in St Louis, my wife underwent a Whipple procedure with right liver resection. We were told she was inoperable by two other oncologists at other cancer centers. That was 3 years ago and today she is cancer-free. The doctors, both surgeons and the oncologist said there was no tumor tissue to be found when they went in so they even requested to see the initial biopsy slides to verify that it was indeed cancer at diagnosis. After all she had gone through and was going to go through post-surgery, I remember saying to the team, “You know, I hate to say this, but it better had been cancer.” It was. They had never seen anything like this with this cancer and that it was nothing short of a miracle. So, there you go, miracle #4.
Like I said we are typical, just like most folks, unremarkable. There are miracles happening all around us and all around you. Sometimes it just takes some reflection looking out a window during a worldwide pandemic to make you take notice and appreciate them.
Thank you, Robert Neely, for your "Typical Miracles" submission and for sharing your story and family with us. Another reminder that the people of Celina are second to none. If you have a story that you'd like for us to consider, please contact us at Barbara.Ireland@CityLifestyle.com
-side bar quote: "There are miracles happening all around us and all around you,"