Just a Small Miracle, Please?

Today, I almost wrote a Wednesday Rambles post. I was ready to tell you how crazy the last two weeks have been in a humorous way. Then, someone sent me $50 for my twin brother and his wife who recently lost their three-year-old son. And I thought, well maybe miracles really can happen for my brother and sister-in-law through the internet. I had my doubts and then someone, a complete stranger, messaged privately that they wanted to help. My faith was strengthened when I witnessed this small act of kindness. But really it is a great act.

Let me tell you more of my twin brother and his family’s situation. I am hesitant because they have no idea I am writing this, but I think it’s important for you to know if they are to receive the help that they need financially, and therefor spiritually through this wonderful witness of God.

My brother and his wife have three children, two of whom are now living. A daughter who is 11, who my brother has raised as his own, and a two-year-old son who is now missing his brother and playmate. My sister-in-law works as a nurse and my brother as a mechanic in a town in Oklahoma. Little Kevin, who passed away December 31, 2010, began suffering from seizures when he was about six months old. Even though Kevin has been through countless tests, pokes, ambulance rides, MRIs, specialists, etc., a cause has never been found for his seizures nor has various medicines ever really controlled his epileptic seizures. My brother and sister-in-law had recently been in Texas at Cook Childrens in Fort Worth getting another round of tests done on Kevin and were waiting for the results when my sister-in-law found Kevin passed away in his bed while she was playing peek-a-boo with the two-year-old beside him. She and my brother are devastated, as any good parent would be, and my eleven-year-old niece has taken it hard and hasn’t been back to school yet.

I asked if you were willing if you could help my brother and his family out by sending him money in this post. They have mountains of medical expenses to pay off that were going to hopefully find a way to make Kevin better. We all know that doctor visits can be expensive, but the hardest thing I think for me would be to have all these bills and nothing or no one to show for them. Each time they get a bill in the mail or a collection call on the phone it is a painful reminder to them that their son died and is no longer with them. I don’t know that we can ease their pain, but we can surely lift their burden.

When I went to their home last week, they live in an old singlewide trailer, my sister, husband, and I decided to clean things up a bit while they made the final arrangements for the funeral. I wanted to make life for them a little easier and since they hadn’t been able to clean all week (there were eggs still sitting on the stove) I hoped that we’d make a difference around the place. I knew my brother’s family was struggling (aren’t we all, I thought), but I didn’t realize to the extent. We found bill after bill (we didn’t look at the cost), I found a vacuum cleaner that hadn’t been used in a long time because it sucked not in the way you want it to, no pantry which meant no place to put food…actually I didn’t even see any canned goods, Top Ramen, etc…a home so cramped my heart went out to them. Let me put it this way without going into too much detail: if I had the money, I’d get rid of the trailer they live in and buy them a new one. But I’m not rich and I don’t see HGTV or Oak Creek Homes asking to help.

***UPDATE***

Thank you to everyone for their generous donations. Together we raised almost $800 to help my brother’s family in need.