This just brought tears to my eyes. Wow is right. What a courageous, loving mom, making the ultimate sacrifice like that.
I do feel bad for her other children, though. I'm sure they miss their mom so much! And I admit, with three other living children, I don't know that I could've done the same thing.
I'm not sure I can say I think she did the right thing. I just don't know. Four kids now without a mom. Was that the right thing? Or the selfish thing? I really don't have any idea. Clearly, the sort of situation I'd have to be in to know what I would do. Dang. Sad.
Well, she was in the advanced stages of liver cancer, meaning her chances of survival were VERY low. Aborting would've likely meant, at most, a few more months with her kids and husband.
I could never in a million years call this selfish. She gave her life for this baby, something all moms say they'd do. Will it mean all kinds of crazy therapy for all involved? Sure. But for many (myself probably included) having an abortion would too, even if it meant saving my own life. (And I've had to end a pregnancy to save my own life, but neither of us had a chance of living if I didn't. That doesn't mean I didn't think long and hard about riding off somewhere that nobody could find us and dying together.)
Extraordinarily sad. Something I hope never happens to me or anyone I know.
Very true. That's why I really don't know. This way, this beautiful child lives. The other way, maybe neither would. Maybe she could have pulled out a miracle. What a crappy decision to have to make.
Selfish was the wrong word, that's not really what I meant. Something along the lines of, are her other three children better off without her and better off without her fighting for her own life. I don't know what that word is.
And I honestly do not think it is even fair for me to think about for her. Would I have made the same choice? I have no idea.
I have learned enough in life to know that until I am in a situation I really don't know what I will do. I've made some choices in situations I never would have dreamed I would make before I got into them.
There are some choices I wish no one ever had to make. This is one.
I hear ya, watercolor - I understand what you were trying to say. And you're right, it's an awful decision to ever have to make, and one nobody could ever make for anyone else.
On another side of it, you can say this is one heck of an amazing example she has set for her children. The saying "actions speak louder than words" immediately came to mind when I read that amazing story. I can't even imagine how I would act in that type of situation and wonder if I would have the strength to do what she has done.
I also hope that little Liam's siblings and father do not hold his mother's decision over his head, if you understand my meaning. I hope that his furture isn't a mindset of "I killed my mom", but "look at how much she loved me." My blessings and prayers definitely go to that family for what must be sucha hard situation to be in.
I would rather have a saint in heaven for a mother, especially one who died protecting my brother, than a mother on earth who killed my brother because she thought it would be better for me. I don't care if chemo meant a 100% chance to live another 50 years. Any mother with four kids would take a bullet for one of them. Do you think that's selfish? Should she let the kid get shot because she's got three others to worry about? It's really a cut and dry issue, although it's rare to see someone with the courage to actually do the right thing.
John Paul II, of happy memory, canonized St. Gianna Molla in 2004 for virtually the same situation.
8 comments:
This just brought tears to my eyes. Wow is right.
What a courageous, loving mom, making the ultimate sacrifice like that.
I do feel bad for her other children, though. I'm sure they miss their mom so much! And I admit, with three other living children, I don't know that I could've done the same thing.
I'm not sure I can say I think she did the right thing. I just don't know. Four kids now without a mom. Was that the right thing? Or the selfish thing? I really don't have any idea. Clearly, the sort of situation I'd have to be in to know what I would do. Dang. Sad.
Well, she was in the advanced stages of liver cancer, meaning her chances of survival were VERY low. Aborting would've likely meant, at most, a few more months with her kids and husband.
I could never in a million years call this selfish. She gave her life for this baby, something all moms say they'd do. Will it mean all kinds of crazy therapy for all involved? Sure. But for many (myself probably included) having an abortion would too, even if it meant saving my own life. (And I've had to end a pregnancy to save my own life, but neither of us had a chance of living if I didn't. That doesn't mean I didn't think long and hard about riding off somewhere that nobody could find us and dying together.)
Extraordinarily sad. Something I hope never happens to me or anyone I know.
Very true. That's why I really don't know. This way, this beautiful child lives. The other way, maybe neither would. Maybe she could have pulled out a miracle. What a crappy decision to have to make.
Selfish was the wrong word, that's not really what I meant. Something along the lines of, are her other three children better off without her and better off without her fighting for her own life. I don't know what that word is.
And I honestly do not think it is even fair for me to think about for her. Would I have made the same choice? I have no idea.
I have learned enough in life to know that until I am in a situation I really don't know what I will do. I've made some choices in situations I never would have dreamed I would make before I got into them.
There are some choices I wish no one ever had to make. This is one.
I hear ya, watercolor - I understand what you were trying to say. And you're right, it's an awful decision to ever have to make, and one nobody could ever make for anyone else.
On another side of it, you can say this is one heck of an amazing example she has set for her children. The saying "actions speak louder than words" immediately came to mind when I read that amazing story. I can't even imagine how I would act in that type of situation and wonder if I would have the strength to do what she has done.
I also hope that little Liam's siblings and father do not hold his mother's decision over his head, if you understand my meaning. I hope that his furture isn't a mindset of "I killed my mom", but "look at how much she loved me." My blessings and prayers definitely go to that family for what must be sucha hard situation to be in.
I really feel for the husband, who's gotta take care of a relative newborn while grieving for his wife. Plus take care of the other kids.
I would rather have a saint in heaven for a mother, especially one who died protecting my brother, than a mother on earth who killed my brother because she thought it would be better for me. I don't care if chemo meant a 100% chance to live another 50 years. Any mother with four kids would take a bullet for one of them. Do you think that's selfish? Should she let the kid get shot because she's got three others to worry about? It's really a cut and dry issue, although it's rare to see someone with the courage to actually do the right thing.
John Paul II, of happy memory, canonized St. Gianna Molla in 2004 for virtually the same situation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianna_Beretta_Molla
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