08/14/2026
This page, A Grateful Heart, was originally created as a place to sell handmade gifts of gratitude. Life has not allowed for much handmade gift making lately so I am using it as the landing spot for our family's journey and our still grateful hearts.
Most of you are here because Jackson had a burn accident lighting a bonfire on Saturday. He has been in the ICU at Loyola and now has 2 surgeries under his belt. He will be ok, his journey will be a long one. Most of his burns now have skin grafting on it of one type or another and now we wait.
Others of you also know that Dave fell in October and while "making sure we ruled everything out" they discovered he had some neurological tests coming back with unexpected results. In November they said the letters ALS for the first time, and my heart told me the pieces fit all too well to rule it out, but we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas and in January they referred him to Northwestern to the ALS Clinic for confirmation. On May 6th Northwestern confirmed what our local neurologist and the VA had already believed to be true. I will provide some updates for him here as well.
To say our family has been on a roller coaster would be true. We have also been on an incredible journey of learning to focus on each day. When Dave was diagnosed my brain wanted to make order of what we were just given. I wanted to plan out everything. To be fair, I tell people I am wired this way. If there is planning to do I plan for the planning, spreadsheet it, confirm it, add in the extras, double check it all, delegate ..I have found security there. ALS can not be organized with a spreadsheet and neither can burns.
So I have grown or at least am now aware of my desire to fast forward, and I have seen the fruits of that awareness in my kids as well. One day at a time. Just keep moving forward.
Saturday night I learned I am also a big fan of wanting a rewind button. I would give anything to rewind and change the moments before Jackson was burned. That is also not an option so again we focus on today. We keep moving forward.
As I move information on to this page you may see some old information but this is the place we will now be putting all new updates and information.
For tonight, I could not wait to get up to my Ronald McDonald room and shout out how God tended right to my weary self.
After a 16 hour day at the hospital, 7 hours of waiting out a delay in his surgery time, and then a 5 hour surgical process, I could not wait to get back to my room and end the day. My shuttle back to the RMHouse was provided by a Loyola security driver named Lavelle.
Lavelle asked me about my day and if it was good. I shared that my son had just finished up surgery and it went well and I got to see him before leaving and he said, "then that sounds like a great day".
I liked him already.
He asked about Jacksons health and I shared that he had been burned at a bonfire. He asked some specifics about the severity of it all. I told him how thankful we are that his airways are good, his eyes are fine, his feet allow him to stand and his bottom allows him to sit.
Lavelle got me safely to the RMHouse and as I opened the car door he asked if I would like him to pray.
Lord, you are too good.
This young man prayed a prayer of thanks for the ways Jackson was protected, the way we are seeing the blessings, and for Jackson's healing and his faith, that he would grow only closer to God through this experience.
Just when I thought an amen was next he said "Lord, we could have lost a young man yet you chose to leave him here and I believe you have a will for his life."
A plan and a purpose indeed. I believe Lavelle has one too!
