Special Articles
A REAL LOVE SONG
Like any
good mother, when Karen discovered she was pregnant, she did what she could to
help her three-year-old son Michael prepare for a new sibling.
They found out the new baby was a girl, and
day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in Mommy's tummy.
He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her.
The pregnancy progressed
normally for Karen. In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five
minutes, every three, every minute, but serious complications arose during the
delivery, and Karen found herself in hours of labor. Would a "C" Section be
required?
Finally, after a
long struggle, Michael's little sister was born, but she was in very serious
condition. With the siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant
to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital in Knoxville,
Tennessee.
The days inched
by. The little girl got worse. The pediatrician had to tell the parents that
there was very little hope, and to be prepared for the worst.
Karen and her husband contacted a local
cemetery for a burial plot. They had prepared a special room in their house for
their new baby, but now they found themselves preparing for a funeral. Michael,
however, kept begging his parents to let him see his little sister. "I want to
sing to her", he kept saying.
Week two in intensive care, it looked as if a funeral would come
before the end of the week. Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister,
but kids are not allowed in the Intensive care unit. Karen decided to take
Michael whether they liked it or not! If he didn't see her then, he might never
see her alive.
She dressed
him in an oversized scrub suit, and marched him into the ICU. He looked like a
walking laundry basket. The head nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed:
"Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed."
The mother instinct rose up strong in Karen,
and this usually mild mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head
nurse's face, her lips in a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his
little sister" she stated, and towed Michael to his sisters' bedside. He gazed
at the tiny infant who was losing the battle to live.
After a moment he began to sing. In the
pure-hearted voice of a three-year-old, Michael sang: "You are my sunshine, my
only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray." Instantly the baby girl
seemed to respond. Her pulse rate began to calm down and become steady. "Keep on
singing, Michael," encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know,
dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."
As Michael sang to his sister, the
baby's strained, ragged breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr. "Keep on
singing, sweetheart." "The other night dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held
you in my arms." Michael's little sister began to relax as rest, healing rest,
seemed to sweep over her. "Keep on singing, Michael." Tears had now conquered
the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed. "You are my sunshine, my only
sunshine, please don't take my sunshine away."
The next day, the very next day, the little
girl was well enough to go home. Woman's Day magazine called it
"The Miracle of a Brother's Song." The medical staff just
called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God's love.
Never give up on the people you love.
Love is so incredibly powerful.
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