And The Day Has Come

It started a few weeks ago. On his way out of the door to school he mentioned that when he woke up in the morning things were"blurry". In my own mind I brushed it off as possibly sleep in his eyes until the third time he mentioned it while his father and I were together. I wanted to dismiss him but his dad insisted we listen to what he was describing. This time he called it smoky. Then today, again, he mentioned it and I decided to place my own fears aside and hear him out. His sister stood about three feet from us and he said that he could not see her clearly. He knew who she was but she had "blurry smoke" in front of her.

Today was a day that I have known may come for the past seven years but even with the knowledge of that possibility it was hard. It was hard explaining to my son that he is losing his eyesight. It was hard explaining to him that glasses will not fix his eyes like they have fixed his father's vision. It was hard to watch the tears stream down his face as he tried to explain away what is happening to him. It was hard to remove my own emotions and tell him that even though he may not be able to see anything in the near future he has seen so much and he will always have a picture of people and things in his mind. It was hard to feel and see his struggle. It was hard to see his heart and his spirit so broken.

The easiest part of was holding him in my arms while he sobbed. The easy part was assuring him that he was loved and that we would get through this together. The easy part was explaining that we did all that we could do to make sure this day didn't happen seven years ago.

As I reflect and prepare myself for bed. I am praying for his strength. I am praying that when he loses his sight he does not lose his spirit. I pray he does not become bitter and angry. I pray he continues to see all the goodness in people and in the world.