Four days after Ben was born, a specialist told us, “He may never walk, talk, or go to school!”

I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do with that statement. I mean, how are you supposed to respond?

Maybe … “Oh, ok. Thanks for letting me know…”

If he was trying to convey a suffocating feeling of hopelessness, he did a fabulous job.

At the time, I remember asking one of my siblings (a physician) why such a cruel statement would be made. The answer was that doctors are trained to “hit” with the worst news first because parents will cling to even the slightest glimmer of hope.

I wasn’t clever enough to respond 26 years ago but looking back, I now see how ridiculous that statement was, too. Why does a doctor get to decide if you should have hope or not?

Here’s an idea. Rather than leave young parents (us) with the belief that their newborn child would essentially be a blob for the rest of his life, why not say something...