Puts it into perspective

These pictures were taken about ten minutes before Sam swallowed the sequin.

Ten minutes before he started choking.

Ten minutes before we knew that anything was going to happen.

Ten minutes.
It puts life in perspective. When I look back at that day, I remember that cold fear that just gripped me. The little voice that whispered, "What if he doesn't make it?" It would creep into my mind and demand that it was to be listened to. I couldn't shake it. The truth was, it could be a reality. As much as I wanted to deny it, I couldn't ignore the fact that I might wake up without a Sam in my life.

So I prayed. I couldn't stop praying. I didn't want to lose a moment. So I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. Every minute was precious. I don't remember what I said; everything blurred together and I just prayed and prayed and prayed.


Every minute is precious.


That cold chill stayed with me. Haunted me. The next day when Sam was with mom at the hospital, and my aunt was over, I wanted to ignore the fact that Sam was in danger. He was in the hospital, he would come home and be fine...right? That's what kept biting me. How would I know? How could I know? What if...



But he lived. He's here. God gave us a miracle. And all of your prayers helped--all of them mattered.

When he got home, he was passed from person to person. Kissed and cuddled and cried over. He's been babied and loved on even more since the event. Because we could have lost him--and that's hard to even think about. The reality that I could have lost a brother is so painful that it makes me cry.



My mom's profile says, "Life is short. And a gift!" And it's so true. There is no way to clock how much time we'll be given, no way to map out exactly what we're going to do. There is so little time, and it could be cut short--snapped--and gone. There's no way to know when our time, or our loved ones' time will be up. It just happens. In just a minute. A moment. A blink, and then--gone.

But it shows just how precious life is. How every single minute needs to be cherished. How we need to embrace life and live it to the fullest--vivid and whole and real.




Ten minutes is a gift.