COACH: A special Christmas story

Dear NIC Faculty, 

I would like to take a moment to talk to you about someone who "made a difference" in our community.

For the first time in my life, at the age of 43, I had a baby. My baby boy was born Dec. 3, 2010. After being admitted to Kootenai Medical Center on Dec. 1, 2010, to begin the induction, our baby finally had to be delivered via C-section on Dec. 3, 2010. My husband and I named our boy Shepherd.

We stayed two more days at the hospital before taking Shepherd home to begin our life together as a family of three. Three days later, we were re-admitted to the hospital to take care of Shepherd's jaundice and a 20 percent birth weight loss.

After a couple of days, we were once again happy to be sent home with a healthy baby boy and to start our lives together. Two days later, we received a 6 a.m. call from a pediatrician who said we needed to return Shepherd to the hospital immediately. The pediatrician's office had just received the results of the baby's lab work and discovered a vicious bacterium in the baby's bloodstream. After checking in and visiting with the pediatrician, we realized we were being what we called "sentenced" to a 21-day stay in the hospital. Our baby needed to have antibiotics administered three times a day for the next 21 days straight in order to kill the bacteria. Devastating is the only word to describe the feeling of that moment. Our family and friends were now going to have to meet our beautiful newborn baby boy in the hospital, instead of at home. Since 21 days meant no Christmas Eve tradition with our family and no Christmas Day morning with family opening gifts and playing games, we just waited for family and friends to show up and visit us in the hospital.

It is very lonely in a hospital room when you are stuck there 24 hours a day for so many days in a row. We thank God every day that we have lots of family around to visit us. Even so, 21 days and nights are hard to fill up with family and friends during the holidays. The nursing staff became my new friends and family.

Among the visits from family and friends, Santa would show up occasionally and graciously give us some cheer and even a gift or two. People we didn't know dropped by on a regular basis, sometimes with their own children, to drop off gifts and to say hello to us.

One of these visiting individuals just happens to be the reason I am writing this letter to you today. This gentleman arrived with his two young kids in tow to hand out stuffed animals and books as Christmas gifts to people in the pediatrics ward. This same gentleman gave us a stuffed animal version of the Grinch and then asked the nurse to ask me if he could read out loud to my son "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." At first I said no, because, frankly, my son was only a few days old. He won't remember it. Then, I thought about the two kids that were in tow with this gentleman. I realized he was trying to set an example for his own children. He wants his own children to know what it means to be charitable, especially during the holidays, to people like us who are stuck there in the hospital. I agreed to let the visiting gentleman read the story and sat up in the hospital bed with baby Shepherd in my arms as the gentleman read the entire story to us. Even though my son won't remember this, I will. Forever.

Occasionally during the story, I would look at the visiting gentleman's children, who sat there listening to their father reading the story, a story that they've probably heard a hundred times. They admired their father, and so did I.

I am hoping there is some way you can honor this gentleman for us.

We still have the stuffed Grinch that this gentleman gave us. Shepherd loves to snuggle with him. Also, I promise you, the book that this visiting gentleman left us, after reading it, will always be read out loud to Shepherd as a tradition in our family in honor of the thoughtfulness that this visiting father of two shared with us. This thoughtfulness made a tremendous difference in our lives at Christmas time.

Thank you Coach Pat Whitcomb. You will not be forgotten in our family.

THE HARKER

FAMILY OF THREE

Post Falls