Caleb went through a Batman phase in 2012. I grew up watching the Adam West Batman with my brothers, so I was all for it! We had bought just the mask for both boys at Walmart which they loved wearing, but when Halloween rolled around, Caleb wanted the whole costume.
Caleb may have pretended to be a superhero, but I don’t think he realizes that he truly is hero. As I write this, he is now 16 years old, and he lives his life in a way that not only makes me proud to be his mother but humbles me at the same time. Since this cute little 5-year-old smiled up at me to take his picture, he has had four surgeries, one of them lasting almost eight hours to fuse his spine, 18 successful lumbar punctures for Spinraza, one botched lumbar puncture attempt when he ended up with a horrific spinal headache and could barely move, 4-5 hip injections to help with pain relief, a broken femur needing a plate and screws, and multiple Zometa infusions to harden his bones.
He needs help with all his daily living activities from dressing to using the bathroom. He goes to school with an aide because he can’t lift and maneuver textbooks, binders and open a locker. I watch him be left out of multiple peer interactions because he cannot participate or the venue for a school event or birthday party was not accessible. And Caleb has never once complained.
As much as it hurts my mother’s heart to watch him live life from a wheelchair, I see in him attributes that amaze me! He has compassion and empathy for others that is unfathomable. I see him stop and ask children and adults alike how they are doing and how can he pray for them. Caleb doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Even finding out he needed surgery for his femur was not a big deal to him because he reminded me it couldn’t be as bad as his spinal fusion.
Caleb often does not think of himself first. He has a deep appreciation for all the family around him but his brother is his “person,” and he is one of Zach’s biggest cheerleaders. He is always the one who tells us that he loves us - and he tells us all the time, because he knows the loss of a loved one can come quickly and with no warning.
Caleb has been a witness to my grief. Once he caught me crying after his dad died. In his total child-like innocence he asked me, “Mom, why are you crying when we’re going to see Daddy again [in heaven]?” He was always quick to encourage me, or make sure I was ok.
So here in this photo he may be pretending to be the superhero Batman - but to me, the boy beneath the mask is the real superhero!
Scrapbooking Tips
This was a fast and easy layout, because I let my pattern paper do the heavy lifting! I had one sheet of pattern paper with an awesome swirl design. I adhered my photos in the opposite corner of the design to help give balance.
My biggest embellishment was an awesome dimensional pumpkin and candy sticker from Jolee’s Boutique. After I added my title, I wasn’t, happy with the finished look. The left side of the layout looked so heavy compared to the right side.
To solve this, I created three purple banners out of my paper scraps and adhered them under the far photo. This was an easy way to create balance and compliment the purple in the swirl design, without distracting from the focal point of the photos.
I thought this layout was complete, however, when I went to put it in my album, I realized that I must had trimmed a 1/2 inch from the bottom side of the pattern paper because it was not a true 12x12 inches. I really liked the look of the layout though and did not want to waste this sheet of pattern paper, so I CAREFULLY trimmed 1/2 inch from the right side closest to my photo to balance the design out. I then adhered the pattern paper to a 12x12 piece of black card stock.
This layout literally came together in ten minutes, even with my little hiccups, and I love the finished product.
Supplies Used:
Card stock - Bazzill
Pattern Paper & Letter Stickers - Doodlebug Designs, Inc.
Dimensional stickers - Jolee’s Boutique
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