~Go Forward~

I guess I should have had a post all together and thought out before tonight, but I don't. So i'm going to wing it and try to annotate the emotions that were felt tonight. About 6 years ago my whole family excluding the kids all got matching tattoo's. Might sound a bit dramatic or "over the top" to some of you...i mean, really?? Who gets matching tattoo's?
Well Zeta's...WE DO!!
After someone or some families in my case lives through a traumatic event AND survives, there is usually a lifetime of change that takes place. In our situation, with Braden being paralyzed our lives were NEVER the same. We as a family had to pick up the broken pieces and put back together everything we felt had been broken. We had two choices at that time, either we gear up and push through this terrible trauma, or we give up. Simple.
You see the thing is...giving up NEVER once came into my mind. WE as a family were NOT going to give up. We made a concious decision to "GO FORWARD", and not look back.
With that said, at the same time Christopher Reeves or Superman had an accident and recieved the exact same injury as our son. Shortly after his injury he started up an awareness foundation for spinal cord injuries. I could do a whole blog on how I felt at the time of Christopher Reeve;s injury and then how we felt once the Go Forward foundation was formed. Someday I will share those feelings and memories.
Basically 12 years or so after my accident, we as a family decided to bond together as one and permanently symbolize on our bodies the love, determination, dedication and perseverence we shared together. I/we were lucky to have a family that would have and did give up everything in thier lives in order to be right beside us during our journey. Seriously, we are blessed to have the family that we have. Once we knew what we were up against with our survival and fight, we bonded together and literally became one. My parents, brother,Paul and I (some extended family)jumped in feet first and learned everything needed inorder for Braden to recieve the best care possible. WE all learned how to suction, chest physio, Range of Motion, physical therapy, NG tube feeds, sign language (in the beginning) chest assessments, Occupational therapy (constant training of how to do every day tasks with one functioning arm) from head to toe this young baby boy had to be cared for inorder for him to survive. THe biggest hurdle which I hope to write about in full detail was his breathing problems. Even my parents and brother had to be aware of respiratory failure and/or stress. They had to learn about oxygen and O2 sats, bi-pap machines...oh it was so much stuff. Thank god we had them all, they were there everyday...I always had my mom and dad, at anytime of the day or night.
Anyways by the time Braden was 12 yrs old, things were calming down and we all had more time to realize what had happened in our lives and the significance of it all.
Paul and I never felt alone in our struggles, we had a family that were beside us the whole time. We were learning together, all of us. The love was strong, powerful and unconditional.
Back to the reason for the tattoo...basically it symbolized our journey, our attitude and our determination to go forward.
We fought, we struggled and but we never gave up. Tonight our son joined our group...he got his Superman Go Forward tattoo. It was such an amazing night, I still remember him being in the tattoo studio when we were all getting our tat's. I also remember thinking someday he'll be 18 years old and he'll be getting his own. WOW...where did the time go? Welcome to the club Braden, we have always admired your strength...and even on the days when we hated everything about our situation, I was always thankful for our family. It has been a pleasure watching you grow up into this amazing young man, we are very proud of you~ and if there is anything in this world that I hope to have taught you it would have to be...never give up the fight, always choose to GO FORWARD~
Here are a few pictures from tonights tattoo adventure, Congratulations Braden, we love you very much and we are very proud of the man you've become! Just to let you know...tattoo's are addicting...be careful there!!