LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
BY GREG AWTRY
YORK NEWS-TIMES PUBLISHER
PUBLISHED: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22
2010 7:09 AM CST
I thank the York News-Times readers for giving me the chance to tell Baby Maddie's story. God Bless Baby Maddie and her parents, although I believe HE already has., Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is one of the most famous lines in our Declaration of Independence. It lays like an umbrella over all of us, protecting our freedoms, respecting the sanctity of life and providing opportunity for all. However it comes with no guarantees, no fairness guidelines. It is primarily left up to individuals to make the most of their lives.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is one of the most famous lines in our Declaration of Independence. It lays like an umbrella over all of us, protecting our freedoms, respecting the sanctity of life and providing opportunity for all. However it comes with no guarantees, no fairness guidelines. It is primarily left up to individuals to make the most of their lives.
This became all too obvious as my wife and I made a trip to northern Michigan to meet our newly born granddaughter, little Maddox McClintic. Maddie, as we affectionately call her, joined the human race on Jan. 5, 2010. She came with all the anticipation of a first born, complete with pre-conceived dreams of a perfect life that would roll out in front of her like a royal carpet. And with the help and guidance of her parents, little Maddie’s life is destined to be all it can be and more.
But as we all know life doesn’t follow the straight and narrow lines mapped out in our minds. We are constantly tested on how well we adapt to the changing and unforeseen situations placed before us. In little Maddie’s case it’s some major life-changing detours, complete with challenges few of us want to know, and even fewer of us get to solve.
Little Maddie was born with complications that threatened her very life and as the days following her birth slowly unfolded one by one, it became clear she had inherited an amazing will to survive. This tiny new life struggled with a heart with two small holes, yet with the strength of a young lioness. She pulled with all her might each tiny breath filled not only with life-giving oxygen, but with the determination to overcome all odds.
Then the disturbing news that little Maddie was born with Down Syndrome was confirmed. I can’t even begin to explain in words the emotions that flood into one’s mind upon hearing that. Thoughts come so fast and furious they begin to bump into one another. How will she survive? How will her parents cope? What of her future?
Short of losing a child, the most devastating feeling a parent can have is the absolute helplessness when seeing his or her own child in pain and not being able to make it go away. Not only did my wife and I see this in our daughter and her husband as they watched tiny Maddox’s struggle, but we felt it ourselves. Our daughter, this brand new mother, needed help and we felt helpless. It was as if a dark dense fog engulfed us, allowing us to see only what lay immediately before us and completely blinding us to what lies ahead.
For several days little Maddie’s fate was unclear too, but the sun continued to come up every morning and slowly it began to burn off the fog and take the bite out of the February chill. Each day we could see a little further and our hearts began to warm with the sight of Maddie’s little eyes looking at her parents, at us, and her brand new world with awe and curiosity.
It doesn’t take long to see how precious each and every one of us is. An image is burned into our memories of a new dad gently tapping his baby daughter to sleep as she lay across his chest and a new mother softly touching the fingers that will soon grasp her hand and follow her on what will most definitely be a difficult journey. And with each of those touches love flows from one to the other growing into an unbreakable bond that lasts forever.
There is Life. Little Maddie is living proof. There is Liberty as we still enjoy freedoms to make the difficult decisions that affect our lives. And there is the Pursuit of Happiness. No guarantees, but life is what we make it. Dreams are real. Love is unconditional. And being a grandparent who can be part of all this is, well, it’s truly a miracle.
God Bless little Maddie and her parents, although I think He already has.
YORK NEWS-TIMES PUBLISHER
PUBLISHED: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22
2010 7:09 AM CST
I thank the York News-Times readers for giving me the chance to tell Baby Maddie's story. God Bless Baby Maddie and her parents, although I believe HE already has., Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is one of the most famous lines in our Declaration of Independence. It lays like an umbrella over all of us, protecting our freedoms, respecting the sanctity of life and providing opportunity for all. However it comes with no guarantees, no fairness guidelines. It is primarily left up to individuals to make the most of their lives.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is one of the most famous lines in our Declaration of Independence. It lays like an umbrella over all of us, protecting our freedoms, respecting the sanctity of life and providing opportunity for all. However it comes with no guarantees, no fairness guidelines. It is primarily left up to individuals to make the most of their lives.
This became all too obvious as my wife and I made a trip to northern Michigan to meet our newly born granddaughter, little Maddox McClintic. Maddie, as we affectionately call her, joined the human race on Jan. 5, 2010. She came with all the anticipation of a first born, complete with pre-conceived dreams of a perfect life that would roll out in front of her like a royal carpet. And with the help and guidance of her parents, little Maddie’s life is destined to be all it can be and more.
But as we all know life doesn’t follow the straight and narrow lines mapped out in our minds. We are constantly tested on how well we adapt to the changing and unforeseen situations placed before us. In little Maddie’s case it’s some major life-changing detours, complete with challenges few of us want to know, and even fewer of us get to solve.
Little Maddie was born with complications that threatened her very life and as the days following her birth slowly unfolded one by one, it became clear she had inherited an amazing will to survive. This tiny new life struggled with a heart with two small holes, yet with the strength of a young lioness. She pulled with all her might each tiny breath filled not only with life-giving oxygen, but with the determination to overcome all odds.
Then the disturbing news that little Maddie was born with Down Syndrome was confirmed. I can’t even begin to explain in words the emotions that flood into one’s mind upon hearing that. Thoughts come so fast and furious they begin to bump into one another. How will she survive? How will her parents cope? What of her future?
Short of losing a child, the most devastating feeling a parent can have is the absolute helplessness when seeing his or her own child in pain and not being able to make it go away. Not only did my wife and I see this in our daughter and her husband as they watched tiny Maddox’s struggle, but we felt it ourselves. Our daughter, this brand new mother, needed help and we felt helpless. It was as if a dark dense fog engulfed us, allowing us to see only what lay immediately before us and completely blinding us to what lies ahead.
For several days little Maddie’s fate was unclear too, but the sun continued to come up every morning and slowly it began to burn off the fog and take the bite out of the February chill. Each day we could see a little further and our hearts began to warm with the sight of Maddie’s little eyes looking at her parents, at us, and her brand new world with awe and curiosity.
It doesn’t take long to see how precious each and every one of us is. An image is burned into our memories of a new dad gently tapping his baby daughter to sleep as she lay across his chest and a new mother softly touching the fingers that will soon grasp her hand and follow her on what will most definitely be a difficult journey. And with each of those touches love flows from one to the other growing into an unbreakable bond that lasts forever.
There is Life. Little Maddie is living proof. There is Liberty as we still enjoy freedoms to make the difficult decisions that affect our lives. And there is the Pursuit of Happiness. No guarantees, but life is what we make it. Dreams are real. Love is unconditional. And being a grandparent who can be part of all this is, well, it’s truly a miracle.
God Bless little Maddie and her parents, although I think He already has.
