Lean on me.

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you don't let show

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me

So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Lean on me...

As I was looking through pictures to post I noticed a constant throughout all the photos; Jack would always be looking at me. It's something that when we were in the hospital, in those moments that I never noticed; just how much he needed me.

Bill Withers song, Lean on Me came to the forefront of my thoughts. I can only imagine how scary those times in the hospital were for my sweet boy. Makes me sad to think of it.

The infamous Dr. Alkon with his favorite fifth floor resident and Jack.

Isn't this giraffe the freaking cutest thing you've ever laid eyes on! The ERISA group had it in Chad's office when he got back and the talented Brenda made the heart with a band-aid. Could you die! It now resides in a perfect spot in his room; once I disabused Lily of the notion that it belonged to her.

Removing the pace maker wires.

Some of these photos were hard to take and hard to look at. They show moments of suffering for our sweet Jack. Having the experience with Owen and Luke though taught me that when they are older they like to see pictures from their hospitalizations. See some of what they've been through I guess.

I'm so grateful that I was able to be there for Jack. We have a wonderfully supportive family that took over on the home front. Chad or I were able to be with Jack all the time thanks to my in-laws, my mom and help from friends. It was sad in the hospital to see room after room on the cardiac floor of kids there by themselves.

I am sure that not being able to be there is so painful to those parents. The nurses said that most of them have to keep working to be able to keep it all going. I noticed too that every evening after six the halls would be busier as moms and dads were able to be with their children. Each day there would be different volunteers that came and held babies, played legos, read stories, whatever. I thought what a great thing to do with your time!

While this isn't really my 'season' for volunteering in a hospital I mentally pinned this for something to do in years to come.

Joy. You want to know about Joy. This boy knows how to bring it. Open mouth, laugh out loud at the drop of the hat, joy. All day long. A story retold to me by the nurses, moments before surgery the OR nurses were all clamoring around this boy because he was just giving it all away. Cooing and smiling all the way back to his ears and down to his toes.

We leaned on our people to build us up, give us their strength and relieve us of our duties so that it would be possible for us to be there for our boy when he needed us most. I am just so dog gone grateful to have such a rich circle of family and friends that help us to do what needs to be done.