Wednesday, October 14, 2009

what made me cry today...

I first heard about Stephanie Nielson through a friend's blog. She had recently been in a plane crash and was in a medically induced coma while the doctors took care of the burns that were on 80% of her body. I started reading all of her past blogs and I read her sisters (c jane) also. Probably most have heard about this story. Her 8 siblings and parents stayed by her side through the 8 weeks while she was sleeping, and 2 of her sisters took her children as their own. Stephanie's husband also suffered burns and was in the hospital with her, but he was by her side through most of it. Theirs is a beautiful love story.

They were recently on Oprah and I missed it - we don't have tv. I watched what I could on the internet today and cried and cried and cried. Because I feel like I know Stephanie through her blog I see what a beautiful person on the inside and the outside she is.

What I have loved the most about reading Stephanie's blog is that she finds joy in the simple things. She never hides the real person that she is....and she loves life. Before the accident her blog was full of pictures of herself. For awhile she didn't share any pictures of the new Stephanie, and the day she did was probably hard for her. I never have pictures of myself because I'm not happy with how I look at this stage. I need to have the same courage Stephanie shows.

Stephanie says she had a vision while she was unconscious, and she was given a choice. "I was with somebody who told me that I could choose to live and have a hard life, you know, embarrassing at times and painful. Or, I could just stay there, and there's lots of work I could do there too," she says. "But I thought of my children and my husband, and it was easy. An easy choice."

She lives with pain every day doing the simple things that I take for granted....like bathing my kids, holding them on my lap, making meals, and every other little thing a mommy does.

She was such a beautiful woman before the accident, but truthfully she is still so beautiful. Her husband still looks at her with adoration - even though she looks very different from the woman he married.

Truly an inspirational story.

good things:
loving yourself no matter what you look like
beauty that shines from the inside
things that make you cry from happiness
a beautiful new day to celebrate

8 comments:

Marley Family said...

Angela I saw this story on the Oprah show last week! I cryed too! She is such a great example of who we should all strive to be. She is such a brave person.

Lisa said...

Fun to catch up on your blog, Ang! Hope you are feeling good through this pregnancy. Congrats on another girl.. what fun to be dripping with girls!

Kaylyn said...

I was able to watch Oprah that day. I cried though some of it. What struck me during that show was when the mother that was struggling being a stay at home mom talked about going into her home. She said that she could immediately feel the "energy" in that home as soon as you walked through the door. It was a wonderful testimony of the power of the priesthood in our homes. I didn't know that she had a blog. Can you share her blog address with us? I would love to read that.

Ang said...

Kaylyn.....just click on her name and it is linked to her blog.

Kaylyn said...

Thank you Angela! I read her blog this morning. Wow what a woman! What courage she has. I also noticed how many pictures she puts onto her blog. She takes nothing for granted. She is loving every moment with her family. Even the small things. What a perfect example.

Jeppsen's said...

She is an inspiration. I too have realized the things that I take for granted. I have learned so many things from reading her blog also.

Erika said...

She really is beautiful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In all reality the world makes us think beauty is one way, but God let's us know that's not so.

This is Us! said...

Boy, she's a great example for all women, isn't she!