My little miracle in sooooooo many ways

My daughter Avery took the bus to camp for the first time this morning. Andrea videotaped it and sent it to me. While the video only lasted 30 seconds, the miracle of Avery Leah Lipman going to camp today has taken far longer...let's say nearly seven decades. Thanks to one special man, Avery got on the bus this morning.

My lucky number has always been six and it's been difficult to explain why, however; this morning I thought of the six miracles that occurred to get my daughter to camp this morning. Let's start from the beginning...

Miracle One began in Europe during World War II

My Nana Rose and I were talking last night about her perils during the Holocaust. I mentioned how I read my cousin Andrea's emotional story about her battle and she said her time there was more awful than anyone could write it. She said it was so horrible. She watched as friends and family were shot and killed. She hid under clothes. She saved a baby whose parents were shot and killed. She came to the United States without skin on her arms from the disease and bacteria that existed while they waited for help. My grandmother was a survivor of the Holocaust. You can read my cousin's beautiful letter on my Mother's Day blog. My grandmother escaped Nazi Germany by hiding within the walls of a truck. She said a Russian man built a second wall for her and my grandfather to hide in. The Nazi soldiers checked the truck and somehow did not hear them. That was the first miracle that got my daughter to camp because my grandmother at that time was pregnant...with my mom Eva.

Miracle Two began in the early seventies

My mom and dad had Wendy in the winter of 1970. Little did they know that Wendy would have cystic fibrosis. Wendy only lived 16 days. Had she survived (which I wish she would have) I may never have been born because it's always a risk to have 2 siblings with CF and there was a 25% chance I would have CF. Losing Wendy was devastating for my parents. I know they considered not trying to have me because it was risky to try to have another child that could have cystic fibrosis. They could have chosen to adopt at that point. Still they went ahead and tried to have me. That's another reason my daughter boarded the bus this morning.

Miracle Three began in 1973

I was born with cystic fibrosis in September of 1973. Doctors told my parents I probably would not see my teens meaning it was virtually impossible for me to have children myself. The dream of having Avery was just that...a dream.

Miracle Four began in 1993

I'd given up on life as a sophomore and even a junior in college and considered suicide. What was the point really? I was living with a disease that was killing me minute by minute every day. Then at the lowest of lows, I played in a basketball game that would change my life and perhaps change my death.

Miracle Five began in 1999

My doctor had informed me that male patients with CF had a 2% chance of having a child. I decided to get tested. That year I found out that I was not able to have children...officially.

Miracle Six began in 2005

After repeated attempts to get pregnant through In Vitro Fertilization, Andrea and I decided we'd give it one last shot. We knew our odds weren't the greatest but it was our dream to have children. That year we found out that we were pregnant.

Avery Lipman was born February 17, 2006 marking a truly amazing journey, one that she today knows very little about but I will be sure to tell her as she gets older that six miracles occurred to get my six year old on the bus.

Avery shouldn't be here today.

I shouldn't be here today.

My mom shouldn't be here today.

My grandmother shouldn't be here today.

The thing is that all of us are here because of the amazing deed of one special man who let my grandparents hide in his truck. I'll never know his name nor do I know if he is even alive today yet I owe him my life and I am indebted to him forever.

Thanks to him, little Avery went to camp this morning.

I hope that everyone is well.

Andy