This was a special day for me and Stevie.  We not only got to go to Disneyland, but we got to be there with some of our favorite people.  This is a family we met in the CTICU about 2 and 1/2 years ago.  Our boys had open heart surgery just a day apart.  Stevie was two weeks old and Mason was just a few days old.

The hospital is such a weird place to meet people  You have this huge, massive thing in common, but it’s also one of the more difficult times in your life.  So you’re not exactly yourself.  Some days are better than others. Sometimes you might want to talk and other times you just want to be left alone.  I think with most people you share the space with, you are concerned for their child and you check in once in awhile to say hi and see how it’s going, but you kind of have other things on your mind.  There are very few people that you can really, truly connect with.

But when you do find a connection, it’s really nice.  Mostly because you know these people get it. They’ve been there.  They’ve seen it all. (And sometimes much worse.) Not even your closest friends can truly understand what you’ve been through.  And while it may not be under the best circumstances that you became acquaintances, it gives you the opportunity to get to know each other outside of the hospital too, and possibly become friends.

—– Big brother Pierce —–

Stevie and Mason are quite a team.  Stevie’s big, Mason’s little.  Stevie lacks fine motor skills, and Mason’s got them down.  Gross motor skills, they are flip flopped.  They are like a little puzzle that fit together so sweetly.

We had a lot of catching up to do and had such a nice afternoon chatting away.  We complained, we laughed, we reminisced, we Disney shopped.  At one point, we were on the Winnie the Pooh ride for a second time, heart boys on our laps, and my fellow mama turned to me and simply said “We are so lucky.”  We’ve both come close to losing our children, and it’s been more scary than I care to remember.  So that simple remark, right there at that moment, made me grateful for our connection.  We are so lucky.