THE MIRACLE OF A BROTHER'S SONG
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3 year old son, Michael, prepared for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby was going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to s little sister in Mommy's tummy.
He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen, an active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown, Tennessee. In time, the labor pains came.
Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor. Would a C-section be required? Finally, after a long struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition. With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee.
The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The pediatric specialist regretfully had to tell the parents, "There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst."
Karen and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral.
Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister." I want to sing to her," he kept saying. Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over.
Michael kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in the Intensive Care. Karen made up her mind, though. She would take Michael whether they liked it or not! If he didn't see his sister right then, he may never see her alive.
She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognized him as a child and bellowed "Get that kid out of here now! NO children are allowed!"
The mother rose up strong in Karen, and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen towed Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old Michael sang:
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,
you make me happy when skies are gray."
Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond. Her pulse rate began to calm down and become steady. "Keep on singing, Michael," encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes.
"You never know, dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away."
As Michael sang to his sister, the baby's ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten's purr. "Keep on singing, sweetheart!!"
"The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping,
I dreamed I held you in my hands..."
Michael's little sister began to relax as rest, healing rest, seemed to sweep over her.
"Keep on singing, Michael." Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glowed.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
Please don't take my sunshine away...."
The next, day ... the very next day ... the little girl was well enough to go home!
Women's Day Magazine" called it "The Miracle of a Brother's Song." The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God's love!
Never give up on the people you love. Love is so incredibly powerful. Please send this to all the people that have touched your life in some way. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world!
*****
I was inspired to write the following:
THE NON-MIRACLE OF SCIENCE
Like most biologists, Professor Schlump was committed to the scientific method. In teaching his classes, he insisted that students learn about evidence, observation, experimentation and hypotheses. In his pathology courses, he put a great emphasis on the germ theory. Unless he could explain the curative powers scientifically, he refused to give credit to alternative medicine, except for the placebo effect.
Professor Schlump was a lonely man. He had few friends, no family; in fact, all he really had was science. He was often depressed. One day a student, Maggie, came to see him. She had never been a particularly good student, but she was a kind person. Maggie told him a moving story she received over the internet about a baby who had serious complications and was near death, until her 3-year old brother sang to her. As a result of her brother's singing, she relaxed, recovered and survived.
The professor saw how shallow his life of science really was. He recognized the importance of having family members who sing to you. His whole life changed! He got married, had children and taught them to sing. In his medical school classes, he became far more accepting of alternative medicine. In fact, he became less rigid about science. Far more people passed his courses and went on to become doctors. One of these was Maggie, who had touched his life.
A few years later the professor was ill with a brain tumor. He was not yet an old man, and since he had only recently become happy he desperately wanted to live. He went to the surgeon and was overjoyed to see it was Maggie! She agreed to do the delicate and complicated procedure to remove the tumor. When the day came, she arrived in the operating room before they gave him the anesthesia. She leaned over, and through her mask sang to the professor, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine." Professor Schlump was comforted, relaxed and happy to have such a caring doctor.
Unfortunately, Maggie had never been a good student and she wasn't a very good doctor. The surgery was not successful and Schlump died. Probably if he hadn't given her a passing grade she wouldn't have been a doctor, but she was and it killed him.
Never give up on the scientific method. It is incredibly powerful. Please send this message to anyone who ever touched your life through critical thinking, even if he is a very lonely, boring person. It may not be heartwarming, but science can save your life!
