A Life Spared
By Gina Gippner
n September 15, I was standing in my kitchen making dinner when my husband walked in the front door. He looked at me and said, “Gina, the phone is for you, and it’s bad.”
I put down my dishtowel and grabbed the phone. On the other end I could hear crying. I said, “Hello.” A moment later I heard my friend say, “Gina, my grandson just passed away, and I need to get to the hospital and wondered if you would drive me to see my daughter?”
Within a few minutes she arrived at my door. The two of us got in my car and I watched as my friend went through all the emotions that one would go through when told of such tragic news. Her grandson had been at Kaiser Hospital, and had been suffering from a life-threatening illness since birth. He was 15 months old.
When we arrived at the hospital I found a waiting room and watched as she walked down the corridor to go be with her daughter. All I could do was pray that both would find comfort in each other.
A few minutes later my friend came to find me in the waiting room and she was crying. I got up and hugged her. A moment later she looked at me and said, “Gina, my grandson is alive!”
I said, “What?”
She said, “I can’t believe this, but when my daughter called me all I heard her say was, “Mom, he passed away!” It wasn’t my grandson that passed away, but her grandfather.
We both stood there for a moment and then I smiled. This was the first time in my life that I ever watched someone go through all the emotions of losing the one they loved to find out that their loss was spared.
She immediately asked me if I wanted to meet Jacob. I smiled and the two of us walked silently side-by-side into his hospital room. I walked over to Jacob’s bed and was greeted with a smile. Jacob has a muscle disorder and his fed by a feeding tube through his stomach. The only thing that seems to function properly is his smile.
I asked my friend and her daughter if they wanted me to sit with Jacob so they could go get a bite to eat and spend some quiet time together. They accepted.
For an hour I got to care for this young child who has spent the last 15 months of his life needing the full-time care of others. I watched other parents (who shared the same room) care for their young infants. I listened as monitors beeped all around me, and I couldn’t help but realize how many parents there are— who spend days, weeks and years in-and-out of hospital rooms trying to provide a moment of normalcy for their child. What a moment in time I will never forget.
As my friend and I were driving home I listened to her share a moment in her life that she will never forget. She shared with me all the ups-and-downs her daughter has gone through, but that her daughter has received a gift of strength that one would never be able to receive had they not been given an adversity of this magnitude.
Her daughter is separated from her husband and her young daughter on a regular basis because her son is constantly in and out of hospitals. My friend also shared with me all the financial losses, which is nothing, compared to watching your own child suffer, and this is where I realized there was something I could do to help.
Onward by Faith...
Gina Gippner-Woods
To order your copy of "Onward by Faith: A Mother's Journey to Iraq and Back" go to www.onwardbyfaith.com, www.justmom.net or www.amazon.com
Just Mom Inc.
Comfort Products
www.justmom.net
PO Box 6533
Thousand Oaks, CA. 91359
(805) 497-0534
n September 15, I was standing in my kitchen making dinner when my husband walked in the front door. He looked at me and said, “Gina, the phone is for you, and it’s bad.” I put down my dishtowel and grabbed the phone. On the other end I could hear crying. I said, “Hello.” A moment later I heard my friend say, “Gina, my grandson just passed away, and I need to get to the hospital and wondered if you would drive me to see my daughter?”
Within a few minutes she arrived at my door. The two of us got in my car and I watched as my friend went through all the emotions that one would go through when told of such tragic news. Her grandson had been at Kaiser Hospital, and had been suffering from a life-threatening illness since birth. He was 15 months old.
When we arrived at the hospital I found a waiting room and watched as she walked down the corridor to go be with her daughter. All I could do was pray that both would find comfort in each other.
A few minutes later my friend came to find me in the waiting room and she was crying. I got up and hugged her. A moment later she looked at me and said, “Gina, my grandson is alive!”
I said, “What?”
She said, “I can’t believe this, but when my daughter called me all I heard her say was, “Mom, he passed away!” It wasn’t my grandson that passed away, but her grandfather.
We both stood there for a moment and then I smiled. This was the first time in my life that I ever watched someone go through all the emotions of losing the one they loved to find out that their loss was spared.
She immediately asked me if I wanted to meet Jacob. I smiled and the two of us walked silently side-by-side into his hospital room. I walked over to Jacob’s bed and was greeted with a smile. Jacob has a muscle disorder and his fed by a feeding tube through his stomach. The only thing that seems to function properly is his smile.
I asked my friend and her daughter if they wanted me to sit with Jacob so they could go get a bite to eat and spend some quiet time together. They accepted.
For an hour I got to care for this young child who has spent the last 15 months of his life needing the full-time care of others. I watched other parents (who shared the same room) care for their young infants. I listened as monitors beeped all around me, and I couldn’t help but realize how many parents there are— who spend days, weeks and years in-and-out of hospital rooms trying to provide a moment of normalcy for their child. What a moment in time I will never forget.
As my friend and I were driving home I listened to her share a moment in her life that she will never forget. She shared with me all the ups-and-downs her daughter has gone through, but that her daughter has received a gift of strength that one would never be able to receive had they not been given an adversity of this magnitude.
Her daughter is separated from her husband and her young daughter on a regular basis because her son is constantly in and out of hospitals. My friend also shared with me all the financial losses, which is nothing, compared to watching your own child suffer, and this is where I realized there was something I could do to help.
Onward by Faith...
Gina Gippner-Woods
To order your copy of "Onward by Faith: A Mother's Journey to Iraq and Back" go to www.onwardbyfaith.com, www.justmom.net or www.amazon.com
Just Mom Inc.
Comfort Products
www.justmom.net
PO Box 6533
Thousand Oaks, CA. 91359
(805) 497-0534
Editor’s Note:
Gina has a business that provides gifts of comfort to children in hospitals. Gina recently partnered with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and beginning January of 2009, CHLA is in need of 1,000 comfort toys per month for each child that has been has diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Gina has committed to finding individuals who will purchase these gifts of comfort so children do not have to go through their medical treatments alone. They will have a friend.
As for Gina’s friend, and her daughter, if you are interested in helping, there are certain things Jacob needs that their insurance will not cover. If you are interested in helping this young family, please log onto the web site at: www.justmom.net . Go to, “Donations for Jacob”.
When you order a comfort toy for a child to be donated to: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Gina will donate 45% of your purchase in your name to Jacob’s family, and in turn she will personally send you updates on what the money was used for and also updates on how Jacob is doing. If you would like to know more about how you can help comfort children who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, please e-mail Gina at: justmominc@yahoo.com. She would love to share with you how simple it is to make the difference in the life of “one” child.
Gina has a business that provides gifts of comfort to children in hospitals. Gina recently partnered with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and beginning January of 2009, CHLA is in need of 1,000 comfort toys per month for each child that has been has diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Gina has committed to finding individuals who will purchase these gifts of comfort so children do not have to go through their medical treatments alone. They will have a friend.
As for Gina’s friend, and her daughter, if you are interested in helping, there are certain things Jacob needs that their insurance will not cover. If you are interested in helping this young family, please log onto the web site at: www.justmom.net . Go to, “Donations for Jacob”.
When you order a comfort toy for a child to be donated to: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Gina will donate 45% of your purchase in your name to Jacob’s family, and in turn she will personally send you updates on what the money was used for and also updates on how Jacob is doing. If you would like to know more about how you can help comfort children who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, please e-mail Gina at: justmominc@yahoo.com. She would love to share with you how simple it is to make the difference in the life of “one” child.
