I remember the first moment that I felt a pit in my stomach, sensing nothing in our lives was ever going to be the same again.
It was a Monday morning, June 11th, and I was feeding Judson at the breakfast table. I had taken Jud to visit his pediatrician the Thursday prior, to discuss Jud’s recent inclination toward stumbling. The doctor indicated that Jud probably had some kind of virus or something that should begin to heal soon. He mentioned there could be other, more serious things, that trigger these types of symptoms, but it was not necessary to be concerned about those yet. However, if Jud did not show improvement in the next couple days, I should bring him in again.
Now, it was four days later. Jud’s propensity to fall had increased over the weekend, but the moment my world came crashing down occurred in our kitchen that ominous morning. I went to give Jud his chewable vitamin C, something he considered to be quite a treat. I placed it in the palm of my hand, and held it out for him to grab, just as he did every morning. But this time, as he reached to pick up the tablet, he completely missed my hand. His small hand came in for another pass, and missed again. After feeling around a little bit more, his fingers finally made contact with the chewable vitamin, and he plopped it in his mouth and began to chew.
But as he chewed, my heart sank. Something was seriously wrong; though I did not know to what degree, I suddenly knew my life was being altered forever.