Sweet boy.

Tonight, while my family and I were out running errands, we stopped at the Sprint store so I could [once again] figure out what was wrong with my Crackberry.

While we waited, Thad met a little friend named Charlie. They spent the entire time running around together, chasing one another thru the store. It was so super cute. We eventually found out that they were only a couple weeks apart, too - both September babies.

Anyways, I noticed, when Charlie came up to me, that he had a hole in his neck just like me.

This handsome little friend had once had a trach.

Hello, instant attachment.

I wanted to take him home.

Instead, I talked to his mom. Asked her all about it. We swapped stories about stomas, and decanulation, and suctioning, and secretions, and yes - I just said secretions. Lol.

I seriously felt an instant bond to this little boy. I wish that I had taken his mom's number so that our boys could play together on a regular basis. I'm kicking myself in the ass for not having done so. Instead, the thought of him will weigh heavily on my mind.

I'm not even sure why he has been on my mind so much since we left the Sprint store, but he has.

Maybe because of how brave he must have to be - as a 3-year-old - to live with a trach, and a half-open stoma, and to brave surgery to fix all that is potentially wrong with him.

He made me feel like a much stronger person for all that I had been through, and the only thing he and I talked about together was the big ol' monster truck on the front of his yellow shirt.

Last night, one of the winners at the Academy Awards thanked his child - because she had taught him so much more than he could teach her in an entire lifetime.

This is so true about children. We learn so, so much from being around them, and spending time in their presence. Not just our own children - but others as well.

Others like Charlie. Who I will be thinking about and praying for in the weeks to come. :)