Wednesday's Words of Wisdom: No Time Limits for Grief from RaeAnne Fredrickson

Thought for the Day: Quotes reach out to me from twitter, facebook and google+. Today's came to me from a feed on Facebook from The Compassionate Friends, Supporting Family After a Child Dies. Death is not easy at any age. My grandmother used to say at the end of her visits when I lived abroad that if she stayed for a day, a week a month or a year, it would always feel like not enough time and that saying goodbye would be difficult. That is true about life as well. Somehow the loss of a child magnifies grief. Children are so innocent and filled with potential, that the blow when they pass is simply harder to understand and accept.

When I saw the above quote, I did not know who RaeAnne Fredrickson was. I looked her up and discovered that she lost an infant child who was born with a fatal disease. She knew at 15 weeks that her son would not survive for long, but chose to bring him into the world. Since then she has devoted her life to helping others living with the same circumstances.

It reminds me of  Simon Sudman. Here's his story from the Simon's Fund website:

 In 2004, Simon was born. He weighed six pounds, 15 ounces at birth, and had an APGAR score of eight and nine. He was 50% for weight and 25% for height. Every few hours, he’d finish a bottle (except for a four-hour stretch overnight). It all sounds pretty normal, right?At seven weeks, Simon smiled for the first time. He died 47 days later.
By all signs, Simon Sudman was healthy and normal. But his little heart had a tiny unknown defect called Long QT Syndrome.
His parents had never heard of this condition before, let alone know that Phyllis (mother) also had the condition. They also didn’t know that this heart arrhythmia was responsible for up to 15% of all SIDS deaths.
Simon was one of thousands of kids to die of sudden cardiac arrest in 2005. Some were babies and others were high school athletes.

The Sudmans can never bring Simon back, but they have saved the lives of many other children and succeeded in getting laws passed to require education for coaches about SCA. Learn about Sudden Cardiac Arrest, have your family tested and help us spread the word. If you visit their website, you will see that they do not try to hide their grief, but they also have learned how to have the joy of helping prevent others from having to live through the pain they endured. Simon's Fund is one of the Dream Nonprofits featured in and benefitting from my book.

What If A 3 Month Old Child's Life Could Help Save Lives?

Thought for the Day: Alright, I admit it, the title to this post was a teaser, but I did it for a good cause. Over the past few weeks, I have shared the story of Katy, a 5 year old heart transplant recipient, & the news of her triumphant return home from the hospital on the road to a healthy childhood. Today I'm posing a different set of questions related to healing hearts: What if the 3 month life of an infant could save children's lives every year? View the video to see how Simon, a three month old infant whose life & death is making a difference in Pennsylvania & around the country. This video is a slightly longer than the one's I've been making for the What If? Wednesdays series. It was produced about one of the 21 Dream Nonprofit Organizations featured in my book, Simon's Fund. (On youTube you can see other videos about this amazing organization, like a 2 minute clip by CNN's medical expert, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. However, the one I chose portrays Darren & Phylliss Sudman & Simon's Fund in a more touching light.)  I hope you will take a few minutes to play the video to learn more. If you have not purchased my book yet, you can support this organization by clicking here to buy The Wake Up and Dream Challenge & earmarking 50% of the profits to Simon's Fund.

Have you tried to answer Tuesday's Psychological Trivia question yet? The answer will be posted tomorrow. Have a great week.