Vignettes 10

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE

This is a true story recorded in WOMEN’S DAY Magazine as "The Miracle of a Brother’s Song." I offer it as a reminder of God’s Love and miracle working power, through people of faith - often children, who seldom are allowed a voice in our adult world.

Monica was an active member of the Panther Creek United Methodist Church in Morristown, Tennessee, Mom to a three-year old son, Michael, and a soon to be born daughter. Brother Michael had been an excited and willing participant throughout the pregnancy. Day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his little sister in Mommy’s tummy, strengthening a bond of love.

Every thing progressed normally. Monica’s contractions started on schedule going from five minutes apart, to three, and then every minute. Suddenly, unexpected serious complications began delaying the delivery. It was thought Karen might have to undergo a C-section, but after hours of exhausting hard labor, the baby was born.

In great distress from the first breath, the tiny form was rushed in an ambulance to the neonatal intensive unit at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. Michael was lost in the concerned sea of gowned medical personnel blind to his presence as they focused on the emergency. Michael’s dad didn’t even think about his son as he pulled the family car into position to follow the ambulance. Fortunately, one of the security staff saw the worried little boy and hurried outside to stop the dad. Mike was left to his confusion in the car as his father sprinted toward the emergency entrance after a mad race to the city. It seemed like a long time before his folks reappeared.

Michael’s new sister’s condition declined daily to the point where Monica and her husband were told by the attending physicians to prepare for the worst. Despair replaced hope. They had arranged, furnished and decorated a room in their home especially for their new arrival, now they were faced with arranging her burial. It was a terrible time. Poor Michael kept asking to see his little sis so he could sing to her, but his requests only irritated his parents. Children weren’t allowed in the Intensive Care Unit. Mike watched his mom weep uncontrollably as dad talked to the funeral home about a cemetery plot.

It just wasn’t right! Monica’s faith began to fade as her daughter’s life ebbed away, but the medical experts had given up hope. It was just a matter of a short time before the precious child would again see God - still Michael begged and pleaded to be allowed to see and sing to his sister. Fed up with life in general, Monica finally decided that if her daughter was to die, it would be even a greater crime if Michael was denied ever seeing her.

The next morning Monica prepared to relieve her husband’s vigil over the baby the same as every other day with one exception. Normally she handed Mike off in the waiting room to make the trip home with his dad. This time an extra hospital gown, cap and mask was brought out by Mike’s dad. Looking like a rag-mop an overjoyed Mike, swimming in green cloth, marched in his mom’s wake beyond the restrictive doors of the ICU. The pair was about to enter the cubical, when a harsh command from the chief nurse startled even the almost lifeless form within. "Get that kid out of here NOW! Absolutely NO children allowed in ICU! He will have wait outside!" Tears welled up in Michael’s eyes. He had waited so long and prayed so hard to see and sing to his baby sister. He turned to leave, but his mother’s voice stopped him.

"My son is going to see AND sing to his sister! Of that there is no doubt!" Monica’s normally soft spirit was now strong as she glared steely-eyed at the shocked official. "He’s not leaving here until he’s seen his sister. Is that clear?! The bossy floor nurse, humbled by the mother’s challenge, nodded her consent, as Monica towed Michael to his sister’s bedside.

The wee motionless blue form wasn’t what Michael had expected to see, still he took heart. "Go ahead. Sing to her!" Monica realized too late that her voice had not softened and was much too harsh. Mike deserved this moment with the one he had nurtured so. "I’m sorry sweetheart, please sing to your sister like you did when she was in my tummy." After a pause in the pure-hearted voice of a child, Michael began: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray." Instantly, from the first word, the baby girl responded. At first her tiny arms only jerked, but then her legs also began to move! The monitor showed an increase in pulse and respiration. Monica, afraid to believe her eyes gasped: "Keep singing Michael! Sing!" "You’ll never know dear how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away."

As Michael’s words reached the infants ears, her ragged breathing became as smooth as a kitten’s purr. "Please Michael sing!!! Monica’s elevated words attracted the attention of the ICU staff, who gathered into the small room. "The other night dear as I was sleep’n, I dreamed I held you in my hands." The little girl’s breathing was now deep and rhythmic as, soothed by the sounds she had over the months grown used to, healing rest swept over her. Monica glowed, even the bossy head nurse had tears in her eyes as Michael continued to love and serenade his sister. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don’t take my sunshine from me."

The next day… the very next day, the baby was able to good home! The medical staff said it was a miracle; the media called it "The Miracle of a Brother’s Song. Monica and her husband believe it was a miracle of God’s love. Michael and his sister know it was all of these things. Every human life needs more than air, food, water, shelter and clothing. When emotional nourishment ceases, the end is near. Don’t deny yourself or others what we all need to sustain life - true love.

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