Heart Moms

Saturday afternoon I had the priveledge of attending the Intermountain Healing Hearts "Heart Mom Luncheon" at Gardner Village. It was such a great event. How wonderful to sit in a room filled with amazing women who have endured and continue to endure so much. I was reunited with friends who I met in the hospital as we sat by the sides of our sick children. These women who inspired me and helped me stay strong on sugery days and answered my frantic questions, who showed me the ropes in the pump room, who cheered the day we were sent home, and who taught me to trust in the Lord's plan. I embraced friends whose little ones have lost their battle with CHD and who inspire me with their faith and courage and example as they have found peace and happiness after such great loss. I made new friendships with women who I have only known through their blogs as I have followed and prayed for their children and feel like they are close friends despite this being our first meeting. And I met a new friend who is expecting a little boy with HLHS this summer which brought back so many memories of two summers ago and how scared we were of what the future would bring.

We were blessed to hear from Margaret Cardall, Paul Cardall's mother, a woman I have wished to meet and speak with ever since I started following Paul's story. What a pioneer she was as a heart mom. Her "Heart Mom" battle for her child may have begun a few year earlier than most of the rest of us in attendance, but her fear and love and strength to take things one day at a time were the same as every women there. When she told how she panicked the first time Paul slept through the night, worried that he had passed away, the whole room nodded in complete understanding. But her faith and hope carried her though each incident. Then Paul inspired us with his beautiful music, looking healthy and full of life with his new heart. It was great.

I feel so blessed to be part of such an amazing sisterhood of Heart Moms. Thank you IHH for bringing us all together.