Tag: Motherhood

Hospital staff=family
Faith · healing-over-pain · Hope · Motherhood

Hospital staff=family

dawnhirnLeave a comment

“I was outside shoveling dirt, while my husband was operating the tractor. Our young daughter Ashlynn was inside.

 

Suddenly we heard a very loud BOOM, and, then, screams coming from inside the house.

Ashlynn came running to us on fire from the waist up.

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Her long brown hair was completely fried.

She was burned on her head, face, ears, hands, and legs.

Her body was cut from the shards of glass (the shower door had exploded).

 

She kept repeating, “I’m sorry momma, I thought it was a candle.”

It was a firecracker that sizzled for a second and caught fire.

She tried to put out the fire with a towel and the towel burst into flames. 

The fire had spread to my side of the vanity where there were a few aerosol cans. 

The explosion shattered the shower door.

We grabbed her up and drove her to our local ER. 

She was life-flighted from our hometown of Tahlequah, Oklahoma to the closest city where they removed a piece of glass the size of a pea from her eye.

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Then we were flown to Galveston to the Shriner’s Burns Hospital for Children. 

 

We were in that hospital for a month.

She is so courageous.

We continued to return there every few months for check-ups and it was always the same–like going home.

Hospital staff = family.

Now, her hair is growing back, she is enjoying school, and back to riding her dirt bike.

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She is partially blind in one eye, but she has learned to compensate.

She is doing better with the stares and questions.

She has come a long way and has been so strong and resilient. 

We thank God every day we still have ‘our little Miracle’ in our lives.

Much love to everyone surviving a burn injury.

I believe it does get better.

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Ashlynn & me

 

We hold onto each other as we travel our common journeys.” Ashlynn’s mom

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 @ryanshinesburnfoundation)

 

“To face unafraid the plans that we’ve made”
Faith · Family · Hope

“To face unafraid the plans that we’ve made”

dawnhirnLeave a comment

couple snowSleighbells ring, are you listening?

In the lane, snow is glistening:

A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight 

walking in a winter wonderland.

Later on, we’ll conspire, 

as we dream by the fire:

To face unafraid 

the plans that we’ve made, 

walking in a winter wonderland.“

It’s a strange moment in the Christmas jingle when they sit by the fire in winter and dream of facing the future without fear.

We sit together this week, basking in the soft glow of candlelight, our hearts warmed by old, old stories and familiar faces.

3 kings

It’s easy to think that the Christmas Season is mostly about the size and temperature of the stable, the wisdom of the three kings, about Mary’s hope, the innkeeper’s hospitality, the songs of angels, and the birth of the child.

The main characters of the Story wrestle with a lot of fear, even terror.

It’s true about every one of us.

We read about Mary’s anxiety, Joseph’s fear of marriage, the shepherds’ fright over the angel-choir, King Herod’s anger, the wise men’s terror of King Herod’s wrath.

Every scene in the Story moves between fascination and fear, between terror and wonder.

There is no emotion in this Story that we haven’t felt.

The question posed to each character, and to each of us is this: “will we, at this crucial moment in our lives, be frozen in our fear, or lured on by the “Wonder of the star?”

Kaleigh:lovely:dawn
Dawn, Lovely & Kaleigh

We at RyanShines are committed to riding the emotional roller-coaster with our dear burn survivors and firefighters.

We stand by our purpose  that “no burn child will be left behind and no Firefighter is forgotten.”

Happy Holidays to everyone, from Ron, Dawn, Tyler, Trenton, Colton & (angel Ryan) Hirn

dawn

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Ryan & Tyler 2000
2010 to 2011 Argentina to London 059
Trenton, Colton, Tyler & Chloe  ’10

 

 

“Girl, you’ve gotta carry that weight a long time!”
Faith · Family · healing-over-pain · Hope · Motherhood

“Girl, you’ve gotta carry that weight a long time!”

dawnhirn2 Comments

This is the story of a mother and son.

It is a hard-luck love story between Monica and her ten-year-old, Lucas.

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Lucas

The whole family was gathered around the table for Christmas dinner.

Each person had their own pan over a fondue burner.

What happened was the fuel was running low, so Lucas’ grandmother got up to go into the kitchen to refill the gas.

When she removed the lid to pour more fuel into the pan, a flame shot across and consumed Lucas from his face down to his belly button.

“I was still at the table,” Monica said, “and had no idea that Lucas was burning.

The kitchen caught fire and when I turned, all I could see was my little boy on fire.

I froze.

His dad ripped his clothes off, put out the fire, carried Lucas to the car, and we raced to the hospital.

I was amazingly calm on the outside but my heart was breaking.”

Like always, Christmas is here again, and Monica has felt it slithering toward her since September.

Talk about carrying so much weight for such a long time!

Every year is always heavy.

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It breaks the most resilient spirit.

 

 

Lucas has had nine surgeries, with more to come.

Monica was in there for the first one and it was unbearable.

Whenever Lucas is in the hospital he does the same thing.

He shines a light of reassurance to mom and lets her know he’s “doing well.”

He continually gives her the gift of his own strength so she won’t be afraid.

In the past two months, Monica has found the courage to say to herself: “THIS IS HARD!”

But she knew that things have been so hard for Lucas, that she didn’t deserve to admit that things were hard for her, too.

Her vulnerability is unfolding, and she has discovered a deeper love than she’s ever known.

For Lucas.Bs-Lucas2

Lucas is fourteen now and in high school.

His faith in God is contagious.

He is so bright in his classes.

He’s on the wrestling team.

Last week he won Gold in the Elite division.

He removes his shirt bearing the scars on his chest, and he is not the least bit self-conscious.

They are his medals, too.

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Mom & son(Monica & Lucas)

 

dawn

Sing Happy Birthday today for Ryan!
Family · Hope · Motherhood

Sing Happy Birthday today for Ryan!

dawnhirn2 Comments

I’m a mom who lost her oldest son in a car fire when he was 7-years-old. 

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Ryan ’94

One of the things I think back on is that I never wanted children in the first place.

I guess I could tell you that if we’d never had Ryan, we would never have lost Ryan.

I’ve thought plenty about that over the years.

Does it sound crazy to you?

Every time I think that way I always judge myself as a ‘failure-Mom.’

But I’m changing.

That dark thought has basically disappeared deep into my psychic basement. 

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Ryan at 4

 

Today is Ryan’s birthday.

He’d be 25.

He’d be out of college, and working somewhere in his own business, being his own boss.

Our little boy was very social from the start; he just naturally loved people. 

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Ryan, baby Tyler & Ron

And he cared about them, almost to a fault.

Here’s what I think: If Ryan could’ve had his dream job, it would have only one focus: out of the wealth he created he would be “Generous’’ professionally.

He would work so he could give away money to help others.

Of course, I’ve got a Ryan story for you.

It’s our lucky day! A gift to you from Ryan on his birthday today, October 3rd. 

(Story) Eighteen years ago…in fact, it was on our last night ever with Ryan, he was killed the next afternoon.

We went to a dinner party at a friend’s house that Friday night.

We came in and looked to see who all was there.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryan walking toward our priest. They talked for a second and Ryan handed something to the priest.

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I later found out it was a five-dollar bill. 

Ryan said to Father Jerry: “Give this to the poor children.” 

I remembered our previous conversation in the car on the way over that night.

Ryan had told us he was still several dollars short of getting his Gameboy he’d been saving for.

That’s where the five dollars came from.

I’m crying as I write this.

In the past eighteen years, I believe with my whole heart that Ryan was created especially for me, and I was created for him, even if we’d only had a year together.

But we had seven! Did you hear what I said? We had SEVEN YEARS TOGETHER!

Happy Birthday, punkin!

I love you.

mom

Encouragement · Family · Hope · wounded healer

Seen through her baby’s eyes

dawnhirnLeave a comment

I’m Dawn.

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.

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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.

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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!

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me and tyler

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)

Badges of Love
Encouragement · Family · Motherhood

Badges of Love

dawnhirnLeave a comment

old woman hands:piano

Take a look at these hands. They could be the hands of your mother. Hands that carried you, changed you and nurtured you. These are hands that have been lovingly lived in.  If you look carefully at them, they look like a MAP. With veins like highways and age spots like Scars collected along the way. Hands that have been somewhere and I don’t mean on vacation.

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Don’t be taken in by that silly commercial.

The one where a mom and daughter are holding out their hands while the “hypster” asks us if we can tell which is the mother and which is the daughter.

And their point is you shouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

I say that if you’ve completely invested yourself in the life of your family, your hands will tell the truth about you. If you’re a mother, your hands will tell a hundred or more stories.

They get cut and bruised. Scarred. The idea that a mother’s hands should look as young as a daughter’s hands is crazy-sad. In the name of beauty, we try to erase the wear and tear of a person’s body as they grow older. I get that.

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Ry and me

But when I look at my hands, I see the evidence of the sacrifices I’ve made, and my Scars are somehow transformed into Badges of Love.

dawn

#myscars, #badgesoflove, #motherhood