Oh Danny Boy

Twenty five years ago there was a young lady named Tracy who found herself pregnant and unable to cope.She had limited resources, both physically and emotionally. Her intention hadn't been to get pregnant, just to be loved. What better way to conceive a child than with the intention of Love as the motive?
She belonged to a church and in the church was a young family willing to show love, so they invited her to stay with them until her pregnancy was over. She decided to trust them to help her through this impossibly difficult time of her life. The man she sought love from was long gone, and she felt alone, vulnerable and scared. Tracy knew keeping the child was never an option since with her limited intellectual capabilities she could barely function on her own, let alone with another person along for the journey.The nine months passed by quickly, with relinquishing for adoption plans formulating easily. After all, even then, a healthy baby boy available at birth for adoption was a rarity.

On April 11,in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, Daniel Mark emerged from his first home, that cozy womb, and nine days later entered my world.

There were 'problems' at birth. The doctors assured Tracy she would be wisest to place him in a home for children with special needs. They weren't sure what his needs were, but were certain they were significant. She was devastated and began praying for God to intervene and save her baby from an institutional life.

On the opposite side of the state, our family received a prayer request to intervene for a young mildly retarded woman who had a baby nobody wanted. He wasn't 'normal', so his prospective adoption plans had fallen through and in the morning he was being placed in an institution until further medical testings and solutions could be found.

As if audibly spoken, God impressed upon us to adopt this child. No magic, no moment of questioning, no curiosity as to how we would include this fifth child in our already financially strapped circumstances. We just knew Daniel Mark was our son and immediately set his adoption into our lives in motion. Twenty four hours later we were arriving at Pittsburgh Hospital wondering who that screaming baby was we heard in the distance, and wasn't that silly yellow hat making him look funny? That was our first introduction to Danny.

Thinking back 25 years was difficult for me this weekend, as my memory is getting foggy and fading, filling up with current grandchildren milestones. All 10 of my grands, as I love to refer to them as, have passed the nine month milestone. After all, my youngest three children sailed by a mere 20,23 and 23 years ago, why shouldn't the grands? I am not superstitious either. I believe that God has a plan for each one of us that includes the number of our days on this earth. Simple fact of doctrinal truth, well learned from my youth and Bible readings.

A quarter of a century ago we spent more hours in the hospital with Danny than we did at home. We learned how to feed him with a tube and suction his tracheotomy. We found out some sleep is better than no sleep. We made friends with nurses and doctors and had neighbors who became friends by helping babysit. We taught our 4 children what compassion means and how to love the unusual ones in society. We assumed everyone would have adopted this lovely baby had they had the opportunity to, and were fairly smug that God allowed us that chance. We adored this little baby boy and expected to grow old with him at our sides.

However,Nine months into life with Danny Boy, we had to give him back. To God, not to Tracy. What a shock! How difficult and surprising to even live through that life event, let alone be able to look back and blog(of all things!) about it. Time does move us forward even when we think time should stand still. As the wise Solomon once said, there is indeed nothing new under the sun and I will add, there are alot of things that happen that you can live through with God's help!

Fast forward ..... yesterday at the beach on the Cape May New Jersey shore. This is a place holding many fond memories for me as it is where my husband and I met and fell in love. So sometimes I travel back there to think and remind myself of the goodness of God as I work on mentally processing life....

There was a fog rolling in, and the gulls were quite dramatically close as they swooped overhead and scared my friend Judy half to death! She hates birds no matter how beautiful the wing span! On the rocks lay a strange object that I didn't recognize, but musician Judy said immediately "oh, there are bagpipes!" We walked along slowly, me thinking about how some old memories are best replaced with newer ones in order to enjoy life, Judy collecting seashells and new memories along the way.


Suddenly I heard it- the notes of Oh Danny Boy softly floating over the foggy waves and rolling out to sea as the sun set in the distance! The melodious sound of the once silent bagpipes was balm for my weary soul. How could God be so intimately aware of my emotional needs and at the same time so able to fill those needs in His own creative ,loving way??

What a wonderful birthday present for Danny and a special gift for me! Thank you God, thank you Tracy and still after these many long years, I am so thankful we called Daniel our son for a short time.