Alexander

Once upon a time, I did not live in the town I live in, in Western Washington. I have, in fact, lived in at least five towns in W. WA. Once upon a time, when I lived in Renton, and my 8 year old was really 1-2, and I had been married for three years, not nine, I used to nanny. Most of my current friends that I see on a weekly or monthly basis never knew me as a working mom. I worked 40 hours a week from when I graduated college until 3.5 years ago. I will fondly remember April Fools Day, 2005, as the day I gained freedom. And that is why I never get bored with being at home with my kids. Tired and cranky, yes, but never, ever, do I think the grass is greener on the other side of that fence. It is one of those gifts God gave me.
I am not putting down those who have to work. I'm simply giving thanks to God for my own personal situation, and I am saying that many of my friends did not work after they had children. But I did. They just didn't know me back then. I didn't have time to make friends or keep them, at the time. I was trying to survive.

Before actual crisis mode hit, though, I was a nanny at two homes. One was in Mill Creek, and when they didn't need me anymore, I found a job about five miles down the road. Robert and Elizabeth needed a nanny for their son, Alexander, who was born very, very early and had multiple disabilities, even without being born early. He was such a skinny little chicken, and about my son's age, had he been born on time.

I spent the next year with them, and it was a rough year, because that was the year they found out he had something wrong with his immune system. Eventually the closest diagnosis they had was aplastic anemia. Not Good. They tried two adult stem cell transplants, after finding an exact donor in Germany. No luck. The doctors actually said to take him home and let him die, because with all his problems, he was a "waste of resources". Rallying their strength, they called around, and they found out he could still get a real bone marrow transplant from the same donor. He got one, and it worked.

Here is the whole story.
I think I'm mentioned in "the first 22 months". The boy you see is the one I remember. I was around when those pics were taken.

Alexander has continued to have problems, but he's cheerful and alive. His parents had twins afterwards, and they are normal and happy, a boy and a girl. I got a change of address note from their mom and wrote to ask how things were going. Today I learned that Alexander lost his sight last year, but he's doing ok. It was very sad for me to hear, but I'm glad he is still alive and doing relatively well.

I should add that the stress of being in the hospital with Alexander and my own healthy son took a toll after a couple of months, and I had to quit. God was with me on that one, because their old, beloved nanny came back to them, having gotten very tired of the position she'd left them for when I was hired. I am so happy to hear that she is still with them. She was perfect for them, and I'm sure she still is. She probably saved Alexander's life numerous times, and has no children, so she was truly devoted to him. That's what he needed.

I have never forgotten him or his family, so I thought I'd write about it. I always felt a bit guilty for leaving right then, but I do know it was for the best. That was when my two year stint in daycare began, and the next two years were stressful enough!

God bless and keep that family. I love them dearly.