Mom's Beautiful Column from the Clearwater Tribune

Life on the home front…

By Marcie Stanton

I know now for certain there are angels here on Earth. I’ve always been somewhat suspicious of it, but now it’s been confirmed.

They don’t look like I had imagined they would. These angels are quite small in size. They don’t look as if they could protect anything, but I can assure you, they are guarding over many people’s hearts at this moment. They are a little reddish in complexion and even have a little extra downy body hair on their backs and arms.

They are also a little wrinkled and have a hard time opening their eyes. They have a worried look on their faces a lot of the time, but who can blame them, they hold so many people’s prayers in the palms of their tiny hands. I was sure yesterday I saw their angel wings but my daughter told me, no, they were their little boney shoulder blades.

I’m sure you’ve figured out I’m writing about my new twin grandsons. I laughingly think of their red skin and the tiny white fuzz still on their little bodies. But I am very serious when I write that these little guys have so many hearts wrapped around their minute fingers. They were born to my daughter, Ashley, and her husband, Bryan Howland, March 1, nine weeks early, two minutes apart.

Ashley was flown from Lewiston to Sacred Heart in Spokane Monday evening and the babies were born by C-section late that night. As Bryan, Ashley, Brenda (Bryan’s mom), Darold and I sat in Ashley’s hospital room at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning with our heads spinning from the experience; it seemed surreal as the bells chimed through the hospital halls twice for the two miracles born earlier.

I jokingly tell our friends they are like half baked cookies but in all honesty they are the most beautiful creatures I’ve ever seen. I stand and look at them in awe every time we enter the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the hospital. Their cries melt my heart, with a mixture of sadness for what they are experiencing but also relief that their little lungs can fill with air and make the beautiful sounds.

I also look at my daughter and son-in-law with wonder as they care for their two new sons with such love, not letting the enormous mission overpower them. They have been so brave throughout the whole experience and someday I will tell my grandsons how their mom and dad never once let fear overcome their thoughts or hopes for the boys.

Braylon Michael and Kaden Darold continue “baking” in their little NICU beds, with some of the best care anyone could imagine from the kind nurses and doctors there. They will be there for several more weeks. So, we will continue to make many trips to the NICU (what our daughter refers to as heaven) and watch our two little wonders continue to grow and develop, thanks to modern technology, lots of love from their mom and dad, and of course, many, many prayers.