this was sent by a friend. thought i would share it with all of you.
enjoy
love,
tami
-----Original Message-----
From: Wade Brinkman <wbrink@kuntrynet.com>
To: Brenda Burnett <burnettb@ipa.net>; John Bales <johnb@kuntrynet.com>;
Joan Jetmore <jswander@ctlnet.com>; Pat Singleton <psingleton@zebra.net>;
Sally Kessler <kessler@locl.net>; Tammy Lauer <mnilofan@bright.net>; Todd
Hagerman <sewfun@bright.net>; toots <lmil@hotmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, March 24, 1999 8:31 PM
Subject: (no subject)
> > Subject: THE SMELL OF RAIN! ( a true story! )
> >
> > "A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the
> > doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still
>
> > groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced
> > themselves for the latest news.
> >
> > "That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana,
>only
> > 24 weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency cesarean to deliver the
> > couples new daughter, Danae Lu Blessing. At 12 inches long and
>weighing
> > only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously
>
> > premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. 'I
>don't
> > think she's going to make it'" he said, as kindly as he could.
>'"There's
> > only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even
>then,
> > if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very
>cruel
> > one.'
> >
> > "Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor
>described
> > the devastating problems Danae would likely face if she survived.
>She
> > would never walk; she would never talk; she would probably be blind;
>she
> > would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from
>cerebral
> > palsy to complete mental retardation; and on and on.
> >
> > "'No! No!' was all Diana could say. She and David, with their
>5-year-
> > old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a
>daughter to
> > become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream
>was
> > slipping away.
> >
> > Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the
>thinnest
> > thread, Diana slipped in and out of drugged sleep, growing more and
>more
> > determined that their tiny daughter would live - and live to be a
> > healthy,happy young girl.
> >
> > But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of
>their
> > daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less
>healthy,
> > knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable.
> >
> > "David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making
>funeral
> > arrangements, Diana remembers ' felt so bad for him because he was
>doing
> > everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just
> > wouldn't listen, I couldn't listen. I said, 'No, that is not going
>to
> > happen, no way!
> >
> > I don't care what the doctors say Danae is not going to die! One
>day she
> > will be just fine,and she will be coming home with us!'
> >
> > As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life
>hour
> > after hour, with the help of every medical machine and marvel her
> > miniature body could endure. But as those first days passed, a new
>agony
> > set in for David and Diana.
> >
> > Because Danae's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially 'raw,'
>the
> > lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort - so they
> > couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to
>offer
> > the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae struggled
>alone
> > beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was
>to
> > pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.
> >
> > As the weeks went by, she slowly gained an ounce of weight here and
>an
> > ounce of strength there.
> >
> > At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to
>hold
> > her in their arms for the very first time.
> >
> > Two months later -though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn
>that
> > her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life,
>were
> > next to zero. Danae went home from the hospital, just as her mother
>had
> > predicted.
> >
> > Today, five years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl
>with
> > glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She shows
>no
> > signs , whatsoever, of any mental or physical impairments. Simply,
>she
> > is everything a little girl can be and more - but that happy ending
>is
> > far from the end of her story.
> >
> > One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in
> > Irving,Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers
>of
> >
> > local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was
>practicing.
> >
> > As always, Danae was chattering nonstop with her mother and several
>other
> > adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her
>arms
> > across her chest, Danae asked, 'Do you smell that?' Smelling the air
>and
> > detecting the approach of a thunderstorm,
> >
> > Diana replied, 'Yes, it smells like rain.' Danae closed her eyes and
>
> > again asked, 'Do you smell that?' Once again, her mother replied,
>'Yes,
> > I think we're about to get wet, it smells like rain.'
> >
> > Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin
> > shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, 'No, it smells
>like
> > Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest.'
> >
> > Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play
>with
> > the other children. Before the rains came, her daughter's words
>confirmed
> > what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had
>known,
> > at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and
>nights
> > of her first two months of he life, when her nerves were too
>sensitive
> > for them to touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest - and it
>is
> > His loving scent that she remembers so well.
> >
>
> >>
>
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