It Takes 26 Days To Get To Heaven

My angel came from heaven.. Though I had to give him back, Too soon for my liking, for it was out of my hands. Please let me hold him. I want to brush my lips against his cheek. . But it was not to be, as he would be gone in a few short weeks. He would not die in vain I kept telling myself, He'd not be forgotten on some dusty shelf. A child so small can he really make a difference?.. Oh yes beamed our lord as my son made his entrance.. I will always grieve for this small son of mine, proof of these empty arms by my side. Yes the years have passed but the shattered dream is still there, I have proof of this each time I hold his lock of hair. I know that he gave so that others could live, Whenever I think of him I try to remember this. So long my dear son, please don't stray too far. for if you do, it will surely again break my heart... My son was born 17 weeks premature on 9/11/1988. He should have never made it out of the operating room alive let alone survived 26 more days.He weighed 1Lb and was only 11'' long. By the time he died he weighed under a pound. His skin was so translucent that you could see through his tiny hands.I was so desperate for him to live that I enrolled him into an experimental study for a drug that would rapidly grow his lung tissue.He ended up developing pneumonia in his tiny lungs and within 24 hours we realized that we were prolonging his death not his life. So we ended the life support and cradled him as he passed. The one and only good thing that came out of this is that the drug was approved, and today thousands of premmies are alive because of this life saving drug. Here in St.paul, minnesota at the childrens hospital, there is a tree planted in his honor. The part of my poem that says he gave so others could live.. well, this is what i meant(the experimental drug).