It was our second day of surgeries and Jhommel was wheeled into the recovery room soon to be greeted by his mother.  As she walked in to see her son, tears slowly filled her eyes with the sight that was in front of her.  The tears weren’t from the groggy and often painful looking state Jhommel was in due to the anesthetic, or the tongue suture that was taped to the side of his face and not even the blood that had trickled out of his nose and mouth.  She had known the healing was well underway.  The tears were of joy and gratitude that her son had just received this surgery.  The tears were the celebration that her birthday was next week, but today she was celebrating what would be the most memorable gift anyone had ever given to her.

Today was only our second day in the operating room, but to me it was apparent that each parent was just as grateful as the rest.  It was special to see how each family was affected differently, some showing more emotion than others but deep down inside knowing how happy they are for this change.