The mother in this story is me. Our little family was boxed-in by a fire in our car.
We skidded across the access road off the Interstate and rolled the car three times.
Three of us survived. My seven-year-old son, Ryan, was burned alive, to death.
I realized last night that I haven’t told you very much about our baby boy, Tyler, who was freed from the flames along with Ron, and me. (We three were burned over 25% of our bodies).
This was–no-contest–the worst experience of my life.
Everything in me died on a slab that day, but my breathing wouldn’t quit.
I only wanted one thing . . . to be with my Ry-Ry immediately.
About Tyler.
My 2-year-old gave me the best Gifts of my life. (He’s a sophomore at Auburn now).
He gave his gift every morning of every month of every year after “the accident.”
He saw me beyond his own pain. He saw beneath my scars.
He saw the heart of a mother who didn’t deserve to be called “mother” anymore.
For him, nothing had changed.
We were still Team Tyler!
And every morning he pushed my bedroom door open, he saw the one thing he needed most. Mommy-Me! I was all he needed.
I was haunted by my consummate failure at the ‘’scene,’’ Tyler wasn’t.
I was more than my scars.
That’s what he taught me again and again, and he hardly knew how to talk.
Forget words he knew me ‘by heart.’
I was all-mother, not his ‘scarred’ mother.
I was the mother who knew just what he needed, and when.
He showed me I still had the Goods.
He never once bailed on me while I was bailing on myself every day.
How can a 2-year-old do that?
I think about the ”Little Prince” and what he said, “
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.
What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
Tyler saw me rightly and I grew into his vision of me.
He took me every day by the hand into the kitchen for breakfast.
Tyler
He led me to the window to show me, in a loving way, that Life goes on.
It didn’t matter to him if I was ready to see it or not. God only knows how saw my strength. God only knows how he knew me.
Tyler will always be God’s best Gift to me!
me and tyler
dawn
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I’m pretty sure you’ve seen a few but you didn’t know what you were looking for.
Wait.
I’m getting ahead of myself.
First, I want to talk about the heroes that have flown in and out of your life.
Think back to Superman, or George Lucas, astronauts or police officers?
How ’bout our World Champion USA soccer team?
So who and what is this new breed of heroes I’m talking about?
These heroes are “Pediatric Burn Survivors”!
They survived the fire that was consuming them and they are surviving the emotional handicap of growing up scared.
But how are these ‘child burn survivors’ heroes?
For one thing, most face multiple surgeries, over multiple years since every growth spurt requires “skin-release’ surgery so they can keep growing.
Next, they take their scars to school with them and are then ridiculed.
Many are bullied or laughed at.
One child I know was tagged with a new name–“Freddy Kruger.”
I want you to take that in and feel the shame that lingers. (And we thought the sky was falling when we had a ‘zit’ on our forehead.)
Catching Courage ’19 Pediatric Burn Survivors
These young burn survivors are heroes because daily they walk into school never knowing who would hurt them with words or everything going on behind their back.
Think about the everyday insecurities of ‘growing up’, especially in puberty.
Then, on top of their fears, add physical deformities.
Be mindful that most of their peers will never understand. Not even me–an adult burn survivor–even I don’t understand.
It’s all so unfair.
CC ’19-Brody and KaleighCC ’19–AlexCC ’19–LovelyCC ’19–Future Firefighter Brantson
These kids are the new breed of “heroes.”
dawn
BTW-If this is something that you would like to support, please visit us at www.ryanshines.com or follow us on FB and IG @dawnraymondhirn
Dawn Raymond Hirn 