Laci

There's so much to our Pruitt story, and I'd like to put it all on here. However, this post will be out of order of things. Five years ago tonight, around 10 o'clock, to be exact, we were getting settled in a hospital room off of the NICU. We were told we had to feel comfortable enough with all the tubes, oxygen and feedings in order to bring Pruitt home. We got in our room and were getting settled before they brought Pruitt in to us, when a nurse came in with a peculiar look on her face. At first I thought something was wrong, and she began to speak. She asked did we know that there had been another baby born in the recent months with the same condition as Pruitt. We did. She asked did we know that he had passed away. We did, only because the hospice worker on that case went to our church and had told us. The she asked us, did we know that he had been in the same "pod," in the same bed space as Pruitt was. We did not know this. I got an eerie feeling when she said that, and then she added, "That baby's mother is here and was wanting to meet you." I was blown away, wondering why in the world she would be there at 10:00pm on a Sunday night. We agreed to the meeting and I sat down waiting for the encounter. A few minutes later, in walked a beautiful blonde girl who I immediately felt a connection with. We sat and talked for at least an hour. As we talked, I found out that she was a nurse tech on a completely different floor. She had not been back to work since her baby, Dalton, had passed away about a month earlier. That night, they needed someone to float up to the NICU and asked her, knowing how difficult that would be. As she approached the "pod" that Dalton had been in and at that very moment, Pruitt was in, she later told me that the nurses tried to keep her away, because of the situations being the same. They knew how hard that would be for her. She insisted on meeting Pruitt, and they then told her we were there.

The next day, I recall telling the events of the night to Jason's mom and how surreal they were. I know Laci felt a need to be able to help us, for she had already walked the road that we were walking; however, I too came away with a feeling of wanting to help her as well.

A friendship formed that night because of a divine appointment that the Lord set up. I believe that with all my heart. It's one thing to be able to say to someone you know how they feel, but she and I really know how the other feels. We saw the exact same doctors! We walked the same path, for the most part. I know God puts people in our lives just when we need them, and I know He did that for me and Laci.