Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Dear Parent,

A few months ago, a close friend of my wife's asked us to keep her 16-year old nephew Joel in our prayers because he had started having seizures. He had been healthy his entire life, but suddenly he started having seizures, usually while he was sleeping. The doctors did MRIs, CAT scans and every other test they could think of, but they couldn't figure out what was causing his seizures.

This past Thursday morning, Joel's mom Vicky, went to the bedroom that he shared with his brother, and found her third-born child face down in his pillow. She nudged him to wake him up, then tried CPR, but he was gone.

The monitor that he wore did not sound to alert anyone of a seizure during the night, so his death is a bit of a mystery. They did an autopsy and we are all awaiting the results, but it doesn't really matter. Joel is gone now.

The tragedy here is one that nobody thinks about until it smacks them in the face. Sure, it would be difficult for any family to resume some semblance of normalcy after losing a child, even more so with this family as they have six other children. But couple that with the expense of a funeral and burial plot, and this family is in serious trouble.

The average burial costs around $10k, and face it, when you have seven children, you don't have that kind of cash laying around. Our church is doing some things to help them out, but the added stress at this time is something that no one should ever have to deal with. Even more tragic is that the funeral was yesterday, Joel's 17th birthday.

I told you that story to tell you this. As new parents, my wife and I took a look at our life insurance policies and determined that the coverage that was sufficient in 1997 when we married is grossly inadequate now. We called an agent and had him over one night to discuss our needs. We upped our coverage to take care of everything if one of us was to die, and we even did a little estate planning.

Now please don't think that I am some blue-blooded guy with deep pockets because, trust me, I'm not. But we also added a child rider to our plans for $4.56/month. I hate to even say this, but if the most horrific thing that I can think of were to happen and Jake were to die, the policy would pay $10k for funeral expenses. We wouldn't have the problem that our friend's are having right now.

To all of you parents out there reading this, always hope and pray for the best for your family, but PLEASE plan for the worst. That $60/year might save you some added grief in your darkest hour.

Now, here is a picture of my little offensive tackle. He is 4 ½ months old, stands (lays) 2', 2" tall and weighs in at 22 lbs even. I'll be taking a second job to feed him any time now.

**Well, there would be a picture if blogger didn't suck so bad!

***11:20am and I still can't post a picture.

****1:14pm, and still can't load a picture.

*****2:54pm, and blogger sucks more now than ever!

******7:54am, and, well, you know.

*******12:33pm and I tried photobucket, but that doesn't work either.

********UREKA!
*********I had to take the picture down because it was screwing up my template.

Comments:
That is just so incredibly sad. I don't even know what to say.

Repost the photo, your public demands baby pictures!
 
oh my i am so sorry for your friends loss..that is horrible...
prayer going out to them from me...

now why don't you use photobucket or something like that to load your pics with i never have this problem with blogger when i use a hosting company...

22lbs ..holy hell my 2 year old weight 26.....now that's a big boy!! still waiting on pics...stop using blogger as an excuse..i know that's what you're doing.
 
My heart goes out to them........

can't imagine losing a child.

Damn blogger, I want to see the baby
 
that is sad for the family. but your advise is wise. always plan form the worst so when it happens, you don't have to think about what to do.

blogger does suck. i can't post photo's either.
 
I could not imagine the pain of lossing a child let alone the cost! Your friends are in my prayers.
 
Brooke - I don't know what to say either. They're just devastated.

PK - When I got home from work the day I got the news, I hugged my son just a little longer than usual.

Greta - He is going straight to the NFL. I think that I will start calling him my little retirement nest egg.

KJ - A parent should NEVER have to bury their child. NEVER.

mgc - I am not a planner or even a "think ahead" kind of guy, but this seemed like a no-brainer to me.

Leigh - On their behalf, I thank you for your prayers. I know that they can use them right now.
 
That is sad, but you are right. Nobody wants to think of that kind of stuff though.
 
What a horrible thing to happen :(

I really think nothing is worse than the death of your own child.

And how adorable is your little boy?!
 
That is something no parent should ever have to go through. my heart goes out to them.


22lbs!!!! WOW! he is so cute.
 
oh my gosh he is beautiful....he looks just like me...hehehehe....
 
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