Noel Marie
MMA Cbl C
1987-2008
Lent for Awhile
“For you to love the while he lives, and mourn for, when he’s dead.
It may be six or seven years, or twenty-two or three.
But will you till I call him back, take care of him for Me?
He’ll bring his charms to gladden you, and should his stay be brief,
You’ll have his lovely memories as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay since all from earth return,
But there are lessons taught down there I wish this child to learn.
I’ve looked the wide-world over in my search for teachers true,
And from the throngs that crowd life’s lanes I have selected you.
Nor will you give him all your love, nor think the labour vain,
Nor hate me when I come to call to take him back again?”
I fancied that I heard them say, “Dear Lord, Thy will be done,
For all the joy Thy child shall bring, the risk of grief we’ll run.
We’ll shelter him with tenderness, we’ll love him while we may,
And for the happiness we’ve known, forever grateful stay.
And should the Angels call for him much sooner than we’ve planned, We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes, and try to understand.”
Author: Edgar Guest
Christopher Michael
Propionic Acidemia
June 4, 1989 -Aug 14, 1993
his summer his appendix burst which lead to catastrophic results. He had a Left Ventricular Assist Device implanted and slowly clawed his way through 3 months in hospital. He was waiting for a new heart. Sadly one never came; he died from a cerebral hemorrhage on Dec. 16, 2012.
All these years of receiving the newsletter, I always was afraid to write of Matthew, thinking that we were doing ok, that I could
not share his successes with the other parents, because we were not going to lose. Hubris.
Matthew had always wanted to go on an expedition with his Cardiologist, Dr. Heather Ross of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at Toronto General Hospital.
Though he could not go with Dr. Ross on her South Pole 2013, she did take his Iron Ring with her. Dr. Ross’ inspiration for this trek was Matthew. Read about her emotional blog post here: http://inaheartbeat.ca/tyl/?p=734
This is a picture of the marker at the South Pole. Notice Matthew’s engineer’s Iron Ring on the top of the sphere. The ring was carried to the South Pole by his doctor, Dr. Heather Ross of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, of the Toronto General Hospital. Dr. Ross and the
www.testyourlimits.ca team made the trip to the South Pole to bring awareness to the need for additional research in heart failure and heart transplant, as well as the need to www.beadonor.ca to register to be an organ donor not only in Canada but throughout the world. Had a heart been available last September, October, November or December, Matthew may have survived to still be with us today.