Letters for Michael

“Why are the flags at half mast again, Mom?” Christian asked as we turned onto the highway this morning.  I responded something about how people just aren’t doing good things these days, and that is why, but knowing the exact reasons in my heart for why our flags are flying so low just made me feel sad.  You don’t have to look far these days to realize that our world is broken and hurting and overall it’s pretty discouraging.

We drove up to see Michael this afternoon.  It was the first time we’d seen him in about two weeks since we were away at camp.  He looked good and we were so thankful when we heard how well he is healing after his trach was removed earlier this week.  And I felt such joy as I leaned down to talk to him and then was able to hear him making a soft humming noise.  I told him that it was so nice to hear his voice and it really, truly was.  And I’m thankful for so many things when it comes to Michael.  But there are definitely times, when it’s just so hard.  Because traumatic brain injuries are hard and it’s always hard to see those you love have to struggle.

And as I laid down to sleep tonight, my mind was wading through the day’s thoughts.  And then something clicked, so I got up to write about it, which will explain why this post will go up around 2am.

So here goes.  Sometimes, life is full of hard and heavy struggles.  Sometimes the negatives seem so much bigger than the positives.  Sometimes I look around and wonder what we’re all supposed to do when life is just plain hard.

But then I realize that we do what we can.  And we look for the good.  And we remind ourselves that God has a plan and that we can find joy and peace by trusting in it.

And then sometimes, we come up with ideas that give us the chance to make the world a better place, even if it’s just for one person.  So this is my idea…

Today, I learned that Sally’s Aunt Krisha comes each Friday morning to stay with Michael.  She is just the sweetest and most wonderful woman and we have enjoyed getting to know her these past months.  She mentioned as we talked this morning that often times she likes to read to Michael and that is what gave me my idea.  Even though Michael isn’t able to talk we all truly believe that he very much understands everything that is going on around him.  So I thought, what if I asked people who come to my blog to read Michael’s story, to write him a letter.  I know there are so many people who have been touched by Michael’s story and wouldn’t it be cool if we had a way to share that directly with Michael?  I thought it might be so encouraging to him to hear that his life has made a difference for others and that there are so many who love and care about him and who are praying for him.  I thought I could take the letters that people write and print them and then bring them to Aunt Krisha so that maybe on some Friday morning, she can read to Michael beautiful words of hope and encouragement.

I think it’s a pretty easy ask.  Granted, it would take as much time as you would need to type out maybe who you are and what you would like to say to Michael.  Maybe you could share about how his story has affected you and your life.  And then once you do that, you can either message the letter to me through Facebook, or email it to: lauraherr8@gmail.com.  And I truly believe that it would be one small way that you could bring joy and encouragement to Michael and his family as they continue through this difficult journey.

We can’t do everything.  But we can do some things.  And this is a something that you could do to help bring joy to this hurting world.  The letters don’t have to be long, or they can be.  But know that if you are able to take the time, I will make sure that they get to Michael and his family and I know that they will be something good for them in a time that is hard.