July 19, 2011 Tuesday: 16th Week in Ordinary Time (A)
Life: That's Amazing!
When it is nighttime,
I get my nebulizer and All my medicines,
I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth,
I put on my pajamas and heart monitor,
And untangle my oxygen-mustache
So I get my special breathing wind.
When I am in my bed,
My mommy will read me a book,
And say my prayers with me.
She will kiss me and hug me and tuck me in,
And then turn on my Mommy-Songs tape.
When I close my eyes,
I go to sleep and dream and dream,
Or I go to sleep and do not dream.
When it is morning,
I wake up.
I am alive, and
I am breathing, and
I am a real boy.
That's Amazing!
October 1993
From Hope Through Heart Songs by Mattie Stepanek
Mattie Stepanek (July 17, 1990 – June 22, 2004) has been writing poetry and short stories since age three. A Catholic, Stepanek suffered from a rare form of muscular dystrophy, dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy that resulted in his death a month before his 14th birthday. His sister and two brothers also died from the disease during early childhood, and his mother has the adult form, diagnosed only after all four of her children were born.
When it is nighttime,
I get my nebulizer and All my medicines,
I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth,
I put on my pajamas and heart monitor,
And untangle my oxygen-mustache
So I get my special breathing wind.
When I am in my bed,
My mommy will read me a book,
And say my prayers with me.
She will kiss me and hug me and tuck me in,
And then turn on my Mommy-Songs tape.
When I close my eyes,
I go to sleep and dream and dream,
Or I go to sleep and do not dream.
When it is morning,
I wake up.
I am alive, and
I am breathing, and
I am a real boy.
That's Amazing!
October 1993
Mattie Stepanek (July 17, 1990 – June 22, 2004) has been writing poetry and short stories since age three. A Catholic, Stepanek suffered from a rare form of muscular dystrophy, dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy that resulted in his death a month before his 14th birthday. His sister and two brothers also died from the disease during early childhood, and his mother has the adult form, diagnosed only after all four of her children were born.
