You will never know

A letter to Caleb’s teachers,

You know our sweet boy so well, and yet, there is so much that you will never know.

You will never know the darkness of his early days.  Intubated, CPAP, central lines, and NG tubes in the NICU.  Landing in the ER and readmitted to the hospital just 10 days after being discharged from the NICU.  105 appointments in his first year of life.  X-rays, ultrasounds, echocardiograms, EKGs, blood tests, a brain MRI, and modified barium swallow studies, there was hardly a corner of Boston Children’s Hospital that we did not explore.

Part of me wants to sit down with you and tell you all about it, so you know what this little three year old has been through.

You describe him as determined, independent, and willing to try anything in school.  You pick up on the way he adapts, and finds a way to do anything he wants to do.  You comment on how he advocates for himself, something I never would have expected a 3 year old to do.

And so, I think you do know.  Because you know Caleb.  His journey has shaped him into who he is today.  His smile, his extremely extroverted nature, and his love for life tell his story to anyone who slows down enough to hear it.