TO?THE?EDITOR:
On the occasion of the 38th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision granting abortion on demand, my wife and I are reminded of what, in retrospect, was perhaps the most momentous epiphany of our lives as grandparents.
In 1989 our eldest daughter was pregnant with her first child. She started experiencing problems with her pregnancy in her third month which were so severe that, per orders of her obstetrician, she was confined to bed for the last three-and-a-half months of her pregnancy, and her doctor told her that she would probably lose her baby because of uncontrolled hemorrhaging, and decided to have her admitted to Women & Infants Hospital at the end of her first trimester.
There was a nurses' strike in progress at Women & Infants, however, so our daughter's doctor had her transported by ambulance to St. Margaret's Hospital in Dorchester, Mass. In spite of the daily reminders during her three and-a-half months of the likelihood that she would lose the baby, she was determined to follow through with her pregnancy even though she realized abortion was an option.
My wife and I prayed daily for our daughter and her unborn child and my wife, who at that time was parish secretary at our parish rectory, had the pastor and assistant pastor praying as well.
On January 6, 1989, on the feast of the Epiphany, our daughter gave birth to a two-pound baby boy. The doctor decided to keep the baby at St. Margaret's Hospital until he could gain three or four more pounds, after which he was transferred to Women & Infants Hospital in Providence. While he remained at St. Margaret's, and again for the first week he was at Women & Infant's, our grandson's heart stopped several times and he had to be resuscitated.
Then, a few days later, my wife received a phone call from our daughter informing her that our grandson had pneumonia. My wife told our parish priest and he immediately drove to the hospital with my wife and administered conditional baptism to our grandson.
From that day on, our grandson's condition improved daily and he was finally discharged to his mother. My wife told our parish priest that we felt God had performed a miracle in allowing our grandson to survive against all odds, and she told him we believed God had a special plan for our grandson.
Today, our grandson is in the seminary studying to be a diocesan priest.
Don Lacasse
Chepachet
