Happy 4th of July!
I wish everyone a very happy 4th of July. I hope you have a great time visiting with family, friends, neighbors, whomever. Enjoy the day celebrating our independence. I could go in to a rant about politics, but I'll save that for another day. Instead...
...instead, I will reiminisce upon a particular 4th of July 6 years ago when we decided not to go out to see the fireworks, a favorite part of mine. Our three tiny babies were in the NICU and we didn't feel it was right to go without them. Instead, Aaron and I arched our heads out of the upstairs window of their-soon-to-be nursery and watched them that way. We couldn't see most of it, but it was the right way to spend that event.
Earlier that day, we had a great visit with them, and one particular NICU nurse had bought, with her own money, an Old Navy shirt for every single baby in the NICU. I had purposely gone to the hospital with one of the best NICUs in the state, so it had more babies than most...but three of those babies were ours! We walked in that day to see our teeny, beautiful babies decked out in the smallest t-shirt Old Navy had to offer. It was the most adorable thing ever! They looked so tiny in those shirts, but wow, how incredibly awesome of a gesture. Not only that, but there were homemade little signs on every isolette with a 4th of July sentiment. I asked to have our first family picture taken, and the babies were stable enough for that. Another nurse gave me a blanket to put up behind them for reference. Last year I took a picture of the kids with the same blanket. Holy cow, what a difference.
I wish I could tell all of those nurses who helped how special that day was for us. I wish I could thank them yet again for taking such great care of my babies when I had to leave the hospital without them. I sent a note to the NICU that first Christmas, letting them all know how much I appreciated their care, and that our kids were doing fabulously. However, every 4th of July I get extra sentimental about this because I can't adequately describe how emotional it was to enter the NICU and see all of those teeny, tiny babies hooked to monitors, tubes and what have you...with parents worrying, rocking and taking pictures of their precious little treasures they couldn't yet take home...and yet someone thought enough of that predicament to selfishlessly 'decorate' all of those babies and celebrate a holiday we had to spend without our little ones at home.
I had my fireworks right then and there with them; I didn't need to go somewhere else to see any.
Every 4th of July from then on, I make it a point to buy an Old Navy 4th of July shirt for all of my family members, which has now increased by one more. They might not quite comprehend why this is so important to me just yet, but I think some day they will. Often, it's the smallest act of kindness that leaves the biggest impact on your life.
Please have a safe and happy 4th of July!!!! Hug those loved ones extra hard and enjoy being together! And enjoy the fireworks, too!
