ed and thrilled he was going home, but they would miss him. They waved to us as we walked down the hallway and out of the NICU. He went home before his original due date, in part thanks to the loving care provided by the nurses and in part because he was a fighter. He weighed four pounds five ounces on that momentous day. Not even normal by conventional standards but huge for our bitty man. His car seat swallowed him. He is five now and facing new struggles. I see him sitting, confused, trying to figure out the world, trying to fit in. He doesn’t understand what he does wrong most of the time, why it was wrong. He struggles to contain the energy that courses through his body all day. He is so full of exuberant joy that he has problems understanding why his impulsive actions make the kids at school
pull away from him. I’m the one that caused this, caused him all his problems from the get go. But he will face everything life throws at him head on as he always has. And he will do it wearing his signature contagious grin and laughing, letting his bubbling joy guide him through the rest of his life just like it carried him through a nightmare.
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