Have you ever seen a dead baby?
I have. I will never forget her either. How could I?
She was perfectly formed from her little button nose to her kissable chin and ears that curved along her lobes that didn't attach to her face. She was pink, like all of my newborns, but graying almost from the inside out.
The grayish color seemed to be overtaking her and even now it turns my stomach.
She was swaddled in a blanket and placed in some weird bassinet that looked more like a coffin than a baby bed.
Her mom went into early labor. The doctors gave her a shot in hopes that the contractions would stop. She had a reaction to the medicine that sent her into horrific seizures. The mom, my friend, was dying.
The doctors gave her boyfriend a choice... the mom or the baby. He didn't have the luxury of time, he had to make the call literally in the matter of seconds.
They had an 18 month old son at home. He made the decision that he lives with to this day. He picked his girlfriend, now wife, and not the baby.
Can you imagine the horror of that moment? Or hours later when his girlfriend woke up and realized that she was no longer pregnant and asked about their baby?
I have often thought of this precious life that was lost so early... I wonder what she would have been and wrestle with the images of her lifeless body. It is something that on this side of eternity that I will ever forget. It's one of those things that get filed in the "To ask God about later" folders in my head.
A single moment in life that will forever be marked in my mind and will continue to bring great sadness to my heart. Life isn't meant to be lost before it even started.
I wonder as the ban on women in the front lines has now ended what we have done in the name of equality? What images will be branded in the minds of women as they fight for freedom. I'm just not sure that we have been made to do this task.
I know that it is not something that I ever want my daughters to face.
I have. I will never forget her either. How could I?
She was perfectly formed from her little button nose to her kissable chin and ears that curved along her lobes that didn't attach to her face. She was pink, like all of my newborns, but graying almost from the inside out.
The grayish color seemed to be overtaking her and even now it turns my stomach.
She was swaddled in a blanket and placed in some weird bassinet that looked more like a coffin than a baby bed.
Her mom went into early labor. The doctors gave her a shot in hopes that the contractions would stop. She had a reaction to the medicine that sent her into horrific seizures. The mom, my friend, was dying.
The doctors gave her boyfriend a choice... the mom or the baby. He didn't have the luxury of time, he had to make the call literally in the matter of seconds.
They had an 18 month old son at home. He made the decision that he lives with to this day. He picked his girlfriend, now wife, and not the baby.
Can you imagine the horror of that moment? Or hours later when his girlfriend woke up and realized that she was no longer pregnant and asked about their baby?
I have often thought of this precious life that was lost so early... I wonder what she would have been and wrestle with the images of her lifeless body. It is something that on this side of eternity that I will ever forget. It's one of those things that get filed in the "To ask God about later" folders in my head.
A single moment in life that will forever be marked in my mind and will continue to bring great sadness to my heart. Life isn't meant to be lost before it even started.
I wonder as the ban on women in the front lines has now ended what we have done in the name of equality? What images will be branded in the minds of women as they fight for freedom. I'm just not sure that we have been made to do this task.
I know that it is not something that I ever want my daughters to face.
2 comments:
Regardless of whether or not we open 'combat jobs' up to women, women in the military are seeing combat. By suddenly allowing women to enter infantry, cavalry, etc. jobs, we aren't all of a sudden exposing them to more risk or more depraved sights.
It is a risk that the women who voluntarily enlist in the military know and take. I knew enlisting as a medic that I could see some things. I knew it. Did it make it any easier when I did see some things while working at a military hospital? Nope. Just food for thought on that.
What troubles me about this is 1.the discrepancy between male and female physical standards in the military. If we are to allow women in combat roles, I think they need to be held to the same physical standards as the males in that combat roles.
And 2. Females don't have equality. I have yet to see anyone screaming that it is unfair that men are required by law to sign up for the draft but women aren't. Now that my daughter is technically allowed to enter the same combat positions as my son, I see no reason why my daughter shouldn't be required by law to sign up for the Selective Service just as my son is. I think people forget that equality doesn't mean just picking the parts of something that you want for yourself and forgetting the bad parts that come along with it.
I completely agree that if a woman wants to fight on the front lines that she should be held to the same physical standards as a man. I don't believe it will ever happen. Firefighters and police have different standards for men and women and I think that is "American Equality". It's complete bull if you ask me.
Secondly, I while I understand that there are a minority of women who desire to be on the front lines, there is a much bigger portion of the population of women who don't. I idea of drafting women is an outrage to me. The reality is that men and women are equal, but different. We are not made the same and we have different talents, abilities and roles.
Finally, one thing that I didn't mention in this blog was the fact that soldiers take lives. Sometimes innocent people die in war. It's one thing to see a dead baby, it's another thing to kill a baby. It's one thing to see things as a medic, it's another thing to be responsible for those injuries.
War is a disgusting, horrible thing that forever changes people. Both men and women.
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