Touching and beautiful. (((((Mercury)))))
Thank you very much. Peace and best wishes. Xi On 9 nov, 22:32, "Mercury.Sailor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I posted this song for one very special reason.... > > *Time of my Life* was inspired and written because of a little Angel > he and his wife adopted from Beijing!! Its very special to me, I hope > you enjoy. > > FULL CIRCLE > > It was late March of 2003 and my wife and I were sitting in a tourist > bus with three other families on a crowded street in Beijing, China. > We had all just climbed the Great Wall together and had stopped to buy > hats and t-shirts from street vendors on our return back into the > city. Yolanda (my wife) and I saw these cheesy little hats that said > "Beijing Olympics 2008". We bought them and immediately added them to > our fashion ensemble, along with our cargo pants, t-shirts and running > shoes. The hats, and the inscriptions on them, seemed insignificant at > the time. They did prove to be good conversation pieces, however. > Yolanda and I discussed the '08 Olympics with the other families like > us, awaiting eight-month-old daughters, on the bus ride back to the > hotel. > > This was exactly one week before we met our precious Isabella, Xin > Meng (which means "new dreams" in Chinese). We were all doing the > simple math that would tell us how old our daughters would be in 2008. > We all agreed that it would be such a wonderful experience to bring > them back for the games and introduce the little girls to the land of > their birth. We speculated on whether they would be old enough to > understand. We wondered about the in-between years and how we would > all be different. Would we have other children? Would our daughters > even care about China? Would we all be able to meet again and > reminisce about our experiences together? It was indeed an interesting > ride back to the hotel and I distinctly remember Yolanda and I > deciding then and there that we would make it a point to be at the > games in Beijing in '08 with Isabella. > > At the time, it wasn't a stretch to believe we would be able to do it. > In fact, it wasn't even something we gave a second thought to. If we > wanted to go to China we just did it. If we wanted to go anywhere, > back then, we just did it. Four days prior to climbing the Great Wall > and purchasing tourists hats, I had stood in a record store on Santa > Monica boulevard and picked my debut release "American Dreams" out of > it's own sleeve in "H" section. My single "Babies" was number 15 on > the Adult Contemporary pop chart (with a bullet, as they say) and I > was told at my record release party two days prior to that, that I > would be touring extensively upon my return from China - "line up a > nanny", are the exact words my agent used, "you're going to be gone a > lot". I was ready for it. I felt as though I could do no wrong and was > living the part I was born to play. > > I had gone from a meteoric career in Christian music, logging twenty > one number 1 hits in seven years, Grammy and Dove nominations and > walls full of platinum, to landing a record deal with Universal South > records as a solo artist. My wife had been a very successful promoter > in the radio world as well. She was responsible for helping launch > some of the biggest names in country music. We were a jet setting, > highly paid, well groomed couple who understood success and how to > achieve it. We had, however, begun to feel empty in our lives and > after learning that we couldn't produce children of our own, decided > to go to China and bring home a little girl. That decision would > change everything. > > By the time I reached her, she had lived in an overcrowded orphanage > and had been in foster care twice. She was eight months old. The night > she was placed in my wife's arms she was burning with fever and > visibly confused. We took her directly to the hotel room and stripped > her down to check for any physical problems. We found tiny holes in > her hands and feet where she had been given IV's over and over again > for who knows what. She had a fresh immunization scar (she was > probably given a shot and thrown directly in the van for the 6-hour > drive from rural orphanage to 5-star hotel). Her toe nails were > growing crooked due to the undersized shoes she constantly wore. She > was completely horrified at the bath we were giving her which made us > question whether or not she'd actually ever had one. She couldn't hold > her head up, wouldn't take a bottle or eat and did nothing but scowl > and sleep for her first three days in our care. Every night I placed > her on my knees and fed her with a medicine dropper to get nourishment > down her. We took her to the Chinese hospital twice in three days > > After taking her to the hospital twice and seeing the hotel doctor > several times, we realized something was wrong with our daughter. > After her three days of sleep she began waking up screaming every hour > and would continue to scream for the next three hours. Eventually > exhaustion would send her back into sleep for another hour. The > process went on like that for 10 days. In the confusion of the moment > we attributed her strange behavior to infections, viruses, the shock > of new parents, new places, new food, new clothes, new sights and > sounds. But as the days wore on and the other little girls in the > group got more and more acclimated and seemed to normalize, we had an > ominous feeling we were dealing with something bigger. > > The drama of China was almost endless. The SARS virus was running > rampant through the country and I was exhibiting all the symptoms - so > was my daughter. We feared we would never get out of the country, but > on our 21st day we slipped past customs and on to the plane bound for > America. Isabella screamed at the top of her lungs for twelve of the > fourteen hours in the air. I walked her up and down the aisles for ten > straight hours, providing temporary moments of silence and relief to > the other passengers. Once again though, everyone could see something > was wrong. > > After a fourteen hour flight from China and a five hour flight from > LA to Nashville, we finally had our baby in our house and in her room. > We prayed the routine, nutrition and comfort of home would bring her > around and one day she would just pop her head up and be a normal > little girl. It never happened. Each night was filled with two hours > of sleep followed by three hours of screaming. Each day was filled > with propping her up, trying to get her to crawl, stand, babble, eat, > anything that would signify she was well. Again, it wasn't to be. The > only thing that had changed for the better was her beautiful, > infectious laughter. Constant smiling and laughter. It was a delicious > gift that propelled us through each day. The fact that she couldn't > hold a cup or play with a doll never stopped her from lighting a room > up with an indescribable smile. It's a gift she still gives. > > We immediately contacted therapists and enrolled her in government > sponsored programs that we thought could help. She was denied coverage > in our private insurance plan due to "pre-existing conditions", so we > spent thousands of dollars out of our own pocket for trips to the > doctor and the emergency room. After three months, we cashed in the > entirety of our savings, stocks, bonds and retirement plans to > continue her medical care. Even with all the money spent, all the > doctors seen, speech, occupational and physical therapies being done > four days a week, no one could offer a diagnosis for her delays and > lack of responses. We were told she had everything from autism to > cerebral palsy to severe mental retardation. There were speculations > that she'd been dropped on her head as an infant. Maybe she was born > pre-maturely. Maybe the umbilical cord had been wrapped around her > neck, cutting off circulation long enough to cause brain damage. She > could've possibly been exposed to some ultra-toxic mold. It was all > speculation and completely maddening. Meanwhile, the years of constant > sleep deprivation, draining of personal finances, and the neglect of > my career, in order to be home with Isabella, was taking a physical, > mental, financial and emotional toll on my wife and me. We found > ourselves barely hanging on to sanity and losing faith in > possibilities. Bella's laugh and the occasional uplifting email or > phone call from a friend was our only comfort. > > As the years progressed, however, we discovered certain things that > helped Isabella sleep. Two hours a night stretched into five which > stretched to seven which has finally stretched to nine. She began to > eat and soon became the queen of sweet potatoes! At eighteen months, > she learned to crawl. At three, she learned to walk. One day, a friend > visiting from out of town said "she acts a lot like my friend's son > who has something called Angelman Syndrome". We rushed home to the > computer and researched the disorder at length. It is a complete or > partial deletion of the 15th maternal chromosome (in layman's terms). > At the moment, it's incurable. Some of the symptoms are; delayed motor > skills, severe sleep disorders, eating problems, seizures, lack of > speech, hyper activity, obsessions with water and plastic, and a happy > demeanor ...constant smiling. It was the only thing we'd ever seen > that sounded like our Bella. We immediately got in line for a genetics > test at Vanderbilt. After three series of tests, on July 3rd, 2007 we > were given the diagnosis of Angelman Syndrome. Deletion positive. > After five years of groping for answers we finally had one. As dire as > the diagnosis was, we were almost relieved to know what we were > dealing with. We now had a name and a cause on which to focus our > attention. > > With no one interested in signing me to a record label or booking me > for shows or using me to produce other artists, I limped along in the > songwriting world anonymously for the next several years. I would get > up at 5 or 6 in the morning, make Isabella's breakfast, clean her up, > then sit her in a high chair next to the piano and write songs while > she smiled at me. It was wonderful ... > > leer más » --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. 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