As my readers know, I am a supporter of the St. Joseph House in Silver Spring, MD. The St. Joseph House is a day care and respite care facility run by Cubby and Dan LaHood. It has operated for over 30 years and I have known both of them for about 12 years.
Dan has written an article in Humanum magazine entitled: Four Fathers. It shares the stories of four fathers and the children they have loved.
It is a moving article and I hope that Dan continues to write and share these stories of the love of a father.
At the beginning of our ministry we had no idea where any of this would lead. It was and is chaotic, joyful, inspirational, wearying, sad, edifying, instructive. It is a life we could not have imagined but one we now cannot imagine having not lived. Mother Teresa was reported to have described a child with a disability the “treasure of mankind.” That may be apocryphal, but we have found it to be absolutely true. Many of the kids who came to our home over the years have died, but every year at Christmas their parents return. And they tell us how they miss their son, their daughter. They tell us, not in so many words, that the love they had for their child was the life they could not have imagined before their child arrived; but one they could not have imagined not living once the child was here. This is true for the Isaiah's Promise parents as well as the Saint Joseph's House parents. Not one carries any regret, whether their child lived for minutes or decades, that that person was part of their lives. Their life to them was a Gift, a Pearl of Great Price, if you will.
To read the entire article, go here: http://humanumreview.com/articles/dan-lahoods-witness
And, if you are moved by Dan's words, then make a donation to: http://saintjosephshouse.net/Contact_Us.html