Nathan's One Year Anniversary

Today is a milestone day for our family, particularly Nathan. It was one year ago today that Nathan received his liver transplant. We received the call on Christmas day that a liver was available for him. We had been celebrating the day at Aunt Melinda's house when we received the call. It came as a total surprise even though Nathan had been waiting for a little over a month. We had no idea when the call might come but it was none too soon. Nathan was becoming sicker and sicker. Here he is on Christmas night at UAB waiting to go to surgery.

The picture below is on December 26, 2007, just a few hours after his surgery was completed. Today we are celebrating the gift of life he was given one year ago. Nathan has had a wonderful year of good health with only a few bumps in the road. He is enjoying second grade. He loves his dog, Sunny. He is a huge fan of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Chronicles of Narnia and of course Scooby Doo. Today and throughout the past year it has been hard not to compare each occasion to the one a year before. Nathan's birthday, the start of summer, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas have all given us reason to celebrate. We celebrate Nathan's life. We contemplate how much different this year is than last. We are now concernced with normal stuff, not life and death. We think about the gift of life given by an organ donor and we wonder about what the donor was like and we think of his family. We thank God for loving us and for all of our blessings. Today especially I can't help but remember all of the many people who have loved us and supported us throughout the year. All of those who spent the night at the hospital with us while Nathan was in the surgery and those who took care of every little need we had over those first days, I will never ever forget their kindness and their presence. Nathan actually remembers the night he went to surgery and he remembers so many people who were there and he remembers playing jingle bells on the guitar and singing for everyone. It was a tremendously special night for us and I will never forget the prayers that were lifted up for him. Happy first liver birthday Nathan.

All of the pictures below are from our Make-A- Wish trip to Give Kids the World and Orlando. There were so many pictures I could have included, these are just a few.

It was cold and dreary when we left Birmingham and we packed way to much stuff!

All of the boys were able to go to the cockpit and meet the pilots.

Nathan even got to wear the captain's hat.

Florida was sunny, 80's and beautiful.

Our first day at Disney.

Nathan was thrilled to meet Scooby and Shaggy.

Curious George is another favorite.

Stephen and Harrison with the guys from The Mummy.

At Give Kids the World, Nathan was given a star by the star fairy. He was able to write his name on it and then it was placed on the ceiling in the Castle of Miracles. He was then able to go and find it on the ceiling. His is the last one here on the third row. The room is absolutely beautiful with a star present on the ceiling for each child who has stayed there.

The village had a great heated pool and the boys enjoyed swimming in December.

Each day different characters came to Give Kids the World so we avoided the long lines at the parks to meet them. Here is Goofy, Mary Poppins and Pluto. Pluto is Nathan's favorite.

All of us with Mickey and Minnie

Santa came to visit on Thursday night and gifts were passed out to all of the children. We even had snow in Florida on this special night.



This is the street we stayed on. Our villa is the one on the left. It really is a little village filled with families who have children who have all been through, or are going through amazing challenges. It is such an wonderful place. They go out of their way to make the kids feel special and give them a week of no worries and only happy memories. The very first thing they did was sit us down to go over a few things, and the volunteer told Nathan that he was the boss for the week and that we had to do whatever he wanted to do. Kind of scary, huh? I was a little worried, but he didn't let it go to his head. I know that they do this on purpose to let these children feel like they have a little control in a life full of medical challenges. For Nathan, a life that revolves around us telling him when to take medicine, when to have labs done, go to the doctor, etc.. The village also has a free ice cream shop open all day long. How great is that? The village is staffed by some regular employees but mostly the place is run by a staff of volunteers. The volunteers range from older adults living in the area to college students performing community service, to youth groups spending a week serving others. Truly amazing. I wish that I could tell you all about the place and the many special things that made this trip so wonderful. I just don't have enough space.

This picture was taken yesterday on Christmas day. I love these boys dearly. Wow. What a difference a year makes. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the entire Shelton family.