My lil Soldier
Ever since my son could stand up on his own two feet I have watched him try. I’ve watched my 3 year old son try to walk, try to run, try to jump only to continuously lose his balance and fall down. Yes, I have watched my son fail time and time again. Do you know what I haven’t seen my son do? GIVE UP. Before the age of two he had his foot amputated and was prisoner to a full length leg cast from top hip to the bottom of the stump. HA-HA-HA! I laugh although, not funny at the time, that cast never stood a chance. He said “screw you!” to his plaster oppressor and began walking. Eventually wearing a hole clean through it. It is this tenacity, this sheer will to be free and independent that destroyed the cast. As a result, he suffered a bit more scare tissue than he otherwise would have. As they all do his wound healed and a prosthesis was created for him. Rising to the challenge Robbie not only adapted to but mastered the use of his new limb and soon he was off to the races. I mean this kid was fast! Running, jumping, climbing but before the success there was failure. Too many times being a witness to these painful missteps broke my heart because often they resulted in injury. Of course, I was there to ice the bumps and lumps he would usually get on his forehead. I kissed the ouchies, bandage the cuts, and clean the scrapes on his elbows and knees. I would rub the sore area and recite “sana sana colitia de rana...” Yes far too many times, I’ve seen my son fail. I have yet to see him GIVE UP, he doesn’t, he won’t. My son is a soldier, he gets knocked down and gets right up, dusts himself off and goes back for more. He has the heart of a Warrior and the spirit of a rhino.
Here we are, July 2019, not even 2 years later and my son just under went a second amputation on his same right leg. This time below the knee. Did he give up you ask? Again taking no time to feel self pity, he fearlessly and relentlessly is and forging onward. Not giving up. When he awoke from surgery to find that his leg was shorter and yet again in a cast he was upset to put it lightly. He kept yelling “I want to run! Get this thing off of me I want to run!” The first night after the surgery, he detached all of the monitoring equipment off him. He ripped the i.v. out of a vain at the top of his hand and even managed to slip off the new cast covering his fresh raw incision. Now the first day after the surgery, not afraid to fail and not one to give up, he begun to use his wheelchair and even took to a walker for mobility almost innately. Oh believe me! He gets frustrated and impatient, but he keeps on going with the up most resilience.
In my weaker moments I’m sad for my son. I feel bad for my son. I begin to turn inward with my thoughts and think things like "damn, life is difficult enough with full functioning limbs..." But, I see him. I see how he doesn’t give up and I know that neither can I. As I said before, my son is a soldier. A soldier deserves a soldier. That’s what I will be. I'll right here at his side. Together we march forward and not GIVE UP.