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Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest and Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea, Mom to Mom, Day to Day, and most recently Small Steps for Catholic Moms. Though she once struggled to separate her life and her …
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Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and they are the parents of five lively boys and one precious baby girl. She is the author of How Do You Tuck In A Superhero?, and is a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has …
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Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com and the author of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also enjoys speaking around the country, is employed as webmaster for her parish web sites and spends time on various …
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Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their 4-year-old daughter, 2-year-old son, and twin boys born May 2011. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site …
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Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
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Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is a 30-something, single lady, living in Connecticut in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law and six kids ... and two doors down are her parents. She received her undergraduate degree from …
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DariaSockey
Daria Sockey is a freelance writer and veteran of the large family/homeschooling scene. She recently returned home from a three-year experiment in full time outside employment. (Hallelujah!) Daria authored several of the original Faith&Life Catechetical Series student texts (Ignatius Press), and is currently a Senior Writer for Faith&Family magazine. A latecomer …
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Kate Lloyd
Kate Lloyd is a rising senior, and a political science major at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire. While not in school, she lives in Whitehall PA, with her mom, dad, five sisters and little brother. She needs someone to write a piece about how it's possible to …
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Lynn Wehner
As a wife and mother, writer and speaker, Lynn Wehner challenges others to see the blessings that flow when we struggle to say "Yes" to God’s call. Control freak extraordinaire, she is adept at informing God of her brilliant plans and then wondering why the heck they never turn out that …
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Heart-breaking, indeed. How fortunate this precious little boy is for being born into a family that will love him for however brief his life may be here on earth. With the advent of prenatal testing, many children with chromosomal abnormalities are not so fortunate. May his family find peace in Jesus Christ. I pray that they have him baptized.
I was so thankful for that too, although - was I the only one wondering about her reference to being tested for Tay-Sachs *twice,* or did I misread? I couldn’t help but fear if that test had caught the disease in utero, she might have acted on that information and never given herself the chance to love her precious boy. :(
Yes, I noticed that, too & was saddened by the thought of the love this mother would have missed had she decided to abort her child if she had tested positive for Tay-Sachs disease. We have no idea the opportunities for love that are lost with SO MANY children with special needs being aborted.
No jumping to a conclusion intended…which is why my wording stated “the love this mother would have missed had she decided to abort her child.” Some prenatal tests can allow parents to better prepare for the surgery, special care, unique medical needs their child may encounter after birth. Thanks be to God that, despite the pain they will endure, these parents have an opportunity to love & be loved by their precious son.
Thank you for linking to this, Rachel. I think it’s an excellent reminder of both the fact that we need to make the most of today and the fact that our children will die, as will we, and we need to, in this “moment” of today, try to remember that our goal is to spend eternity together—and live like it. God be with this family and all those with terminally ill children.
I agree with Melissa Z. Sometimes on this site, I think we are so eager to show everyone how pro-life we are, that we assume the worst about everyone else. Some women choose to have prenatal testing so that they are aware of all the problems their children may have, not necessarily to abort the child. The way I read the article, she included the face that she was tested twice for Tay-Sachs, to show the readers that no matter what, life itself is very uncertain.
That’s very fair. My reading was more due to the fact that this was in the New York Times (site of so much pro-abortion cheerleading, including the one on selective reduction of twin pregnancies just a few weeks ago). I just had an uneasy feeling when I read that sentence. But of course people do have prenatal testing done for many reasons - I completely understand that.
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Heart-wrenching. BBeautifully written, but what a tragedy. Such a sad & sobering reminder for us to have a broader and better perspective on the problems that trouble our days. And yet the mother’s last lines gave me pause: “Parenting, I’ve come to understand, is about loving my child today. Now. In fact, for any parent, anywhere, that’s all there is.” As Christians, our belief in the resurrection reminds us that in fact, today is not all there is. There is so much more, and as foreign or mysterious as that may seem, it changes everything about how we live here and now.
I totally agree with your sentiment Laura. But what I took from her statement was the importance of enjoying this moment, instead of always focusing on tomorrow. Somehow we are living in the midst of that balance…(or striving to!)