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He'll Never Grow Up...(Part One--By Bill) (Warning! Tear Jerker Material!) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Rated "G" by the Author.
A young boy continues to beat the odds. The following story is written by his father.
My son, Johnny, is a little living Miracle of God.
Somehow, time and time again, he manages to beat all of the odds placed upon him by uncaring or unsympathetic doctors.
Johnny is now 11 years old, and he has outlived the odds placed upon him by five years. Doctors first told us that Johnny wouldn't live to see the age of five after we were told that he had muscular dystrophy. (This was when he was a year old, just after he started to learn how to walk, and after one too many falls, we took him to our pediatrician, who then referred Johnny to see a specialist because our doctor felt that it was "something more". Well, it WAS "something more": Johnny had the beginning symptoms of a neuromuscular disorder--muscular dystrophy.) He got his first set of crutches and leg braces at the age of three, and a year later, he got his first wheelchair. He is still using a wheelchair, and still uses crutches (for shorter trips), but he has gotten weaker, and it is heartwrenching at best.
Johnny wasn't expected to live to see his fifth birthday, but then his fifth birthday came and went..and so did his sixth, his seventh, his eighth, his ninth, his tenth, and now his eleventh. He is now facing his twelfth birthday. He will be 12 in December, the day after Christmas.
Johnny has a very good attitude about his illness; and he doesn't like to think about dying, but he knows he is, and he has accepted it. Still, it doesn't make it easy on us because we know that the end is coming, and we aren't ready to say goodbye to a small boy (now turning into a young man, almost a teenager) because we feel that he was cheated out of a very happy and long life, and we feel that he shouldn't deserve something like muscular dystrophy. He knows that he is going to Heaven, to be with Jesus, when he DOES die, and he is always trying to tell us that he is really looking forward into turning into an Angel and seeing Jesus. He knows he is saved, and we know that, too, but still...we don't like to think about his illness; yet, every day, we are cruelly reminded of it, and it breaks all of our hearts.
We often wonder why little children like our son, Johnny, have to get sick or suffer from terrible diseases/illnesses; but maybe there IS a reason for it, and he can teach people much about courage and facing impossible odds, and that no matter what people may say or think about our son, Johnny has a purpose in his young life, and he is an ACHIEVER. In his so far brief life, he has touched many lives with his spunk, courage, and his funny way of looking at things in life, and he somehow always makes people feel better about themselves; and once people meet him or see him in action, they will probably never forget him. Johnny has that impact on people, and he is a great little kid with a lot of compassion and hope inside his broken little body.
I am proud to be his daddy, and I couldn't ask for a better son in Johnny. He is the cutest and most generous little guy, and he always manages to make me laugh and count my blessings when I am feeling sad or stressed, and he has made my life so much better!
A page-turning novel about a relationship between best friends that is interrupted because of betrayal , deceit, sexual promiscuity and pregnancy happens!
My son, Johnny, is a little living Miracle of God.
