Another Zachary

I put my son's name, Zachary Samuel, into Google out of curiosity. The first link that comes up is this amazing story of a woman who adopted a baby and named him Zachary Samuel. It's worth reading the whole story, making sure to click "next" at the bottom to read all of it.

What is remarkable is that the baby could not see or hear, but his adoptive mother found so many joys in taking care of him and loving him. Reading this story reminds you to savor every positive aspect of life, not to dwell on the negative. Just a small reaction or sign of progress on any given day seems to have made this woman's heart soar, and that is a beautiful thing.

I think the reason this child lived for four years, despite predictions that he would die much younger, is that this woman poured on so much love and so much affection. We all know that just being held does wonders for any living thing. This Zachary had a short life, but one in which he was very much loved thanks to his adoptive mom.

"Zachy could not see or hear. Nor could he understand anything in this world, but the happiness he felt when his cheeks were stroked. He was blessed, because he was spared all pain, and worry, and sorrow. He didn't know he was missing anything."

This woman actually adopted many disabled children. To do something like that, you need a few things, the most important of which is a big heart. We should all aspire -- as long as we are able -- to be useful to humanity and increase the amount of love in the world, and I often wonder how I can do more to help in ways like that. Of course, to adopt disabled kids you also need a LOT of resources, both emotional support and -- of course -- money. And so many people have their own problems to take care of before they can take the risk of supporting or helping others. But even a small thing you do can add love to the world.

When this woman looks back on her life, she can know she did a lot of good. And reading her story about her Zachary does us all good because it reminds us how important it is to give as much love as possible, no matter what the outcome or whether you get just as much back. It also reminds us how much joy you can find even in what others might consider a tough situation.

Here is the link again.