Like many people, especially in the South, Tim and I (Sharon) were raised in church. We, like many others, if asked would have said we were Christians. Yet our lives reflected just the opposite. More often we thought about ourselves rather than others. We were busy trying to get ahead instead of trying to give a hand. We were not good stewards of, well anything! You get the picture. Yet according to the world’s standards we had a pretty good life. We lived in a very wonderful community, had a nice house, two good jobs and a fairly good marriage. Best of all we had two beautiful children. Our handsome son, Charlie, who was so kind and smart and loving, and our adorable little daughter, Raleigh, whose smile could brighten even the darkest days, and there were many to come.
When Raleigh was 18 months old she had a seizure following a fever after an injection. Then at 2 1/2 another fever, followed by another seizure but this time she stopped breathing. They flew her by helicopter to a hospital and we had to drive the longest hour of our life hoping our baby would be alive when we arrived. She was alive, barely, her tiny body in intensive care on the ventilator. The doctors told us that when she woke up she might be confused or slow to remember things. We are thankful that she woke up, but our first Raleigh was gone that day and a new one, that we loved just as much, woke up. She had new struggles now. She had to learn some things again. It was harder for her to learn now and she would have seizures with and without known reason from that day forward.
Learn more about our story here...
