Solo Mother

Help Chance swim with the dolphins

by christina on February 23rd, 2008

Preemies are near and dear to this single mother. I was blessed with a robustly healthy babe–shoulders of a linebacker and lungs of an opera singer–when he was born only ten days early… but I myself was very premature. I weighed all of three pounds when I was born, and lost an alarming amount of weight before I stabilized. The only person who believed I would survive was my mom.

I don’t know that folks had much expertise on preemie babies when I was born. I was in that incubator for an awfully long time, but by pre-school, I’d caught up with my peers, developmentally. We didn’t know about kangaroo care or any of that stuff. Babies either lived or died. And I’m not THAT old.

The Augusta Gazette features a pretty amazing little boy and his single mom. Chance was born at 28 weeks; Doctors told his mom, Lainie, (a single mother, no less!) that if he survived, he would probably have a long list of things he’d never be able to do… like walking, talking, things like that.

And using his arms.

Well, just like my mom, Lainie believed her tiny baby would survive and flourish. Thanks in some small part to art and lovely, glorious, messy paint, Chance is only a year behind his peers, and catching up fast. The large part of the credit for his fantastic development goes to his mother and the seven therapy sessions the little guy attends every week. The kid is going to be an artist—using his fingers and hands to create lovely messes on canvases that his mom gives him. “More, more!” he gleefully shouts, demanding another color to add to his palette.

His mother would like to take him to a therapy session with the dolphins. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

There’s a pretty cool community down there in Augusta, Kansas. A gallery has offered to show the little guy’s work, and has waived its usual commission fee. Somehow, you just know this single mother is going to find the $8,000 she needs for the dolphin extravaganza.

I can’t find the website where you can purchase his art, if you have a mind, but at least we can all wish the two of them every bit of luck and love as they fight to give him the tools he needs to succeed!

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