Brain tumor, but that's ok.

Emily Rose is my surrogate grand-daughter. Her mother Jennifer lost both of her parents and asked me and James to be her parents. We love her and her husband Jerell. So I have been blessed to add three year old Emily and her one year old brother Hudson (they are the plus two) to my little flock.

About a year ago, Emily Rose suddenly went cross-eyed. The optomotrist told Jennifer that she had probably always been crosseyed, we were just now noticing! REALLY!? Time for an ophthalmologist at Children's hospital. They decided to treat the eye for a weak muscle and possibly surgery later if patching her good eye didn't work and as an afterthought, let's do an MRI just to make sure there isn't a problem in her brain.

Uh huh, yep there is a brain tumor in there. Scream, cry, (us not her) worry, pray, fast, wait, wait, wait, gaze, take tons of pictures, hug, hug, hug, read, research, think about funerals, how to tell other little children, spoil, give strawberry milkshakes for dinner, wonder if every behavior is due to the tumor...wait, wait, wait and then the appointment with the neurologist.

Yes, there is a tumor in Emily Rose's brain, but it is not causing her eye problem and it should never cause her a problem unless it starts growing. We were stunned and so grateful we could not and cannot express the joy. Emily Rose has a follow-up MRI every so often and that little tumor just sits there doing nothing...nothing. Yesterday was the most recent MRI and still, nothing. It is hard to send a three year old under anesthesia every few months, but considering what we had contemplated it is also...nothing.

Walking the halls of Children's hospital with healthy, bouncy, snippy, adorable, smart Emily Rose is a revelation. Many mommies and daddies have not received the same blessed message Jerell and Jennifer received. Their precious ones have something, not nothing. They look so strong. They look like they know what they are doing. They are bearing their grief with patience and stalwart hearts, for the children.

Love the children.

We are grateful for our blessing. Emily Rose, I love you.

Soon I will figure out how to post photos, but for now just imagine a beautiful, dark haired, little three year old, in a blue dress, with a huge smile, with a chipped tooth (from a flashlight), who has a brain tumor, but that's ok.