SamBeller.org

Friday, December 15, 2000

Christmas 2000 Letter from the Bellers

Greetings Family & Friends,

Merry Christmas! May God bless you in 2001. Some years are busier than others & 2000 has been a year of change for us at the Beller house.

We saw the Lord’s mighty power in so many ways this year ... especially in Sam. Last Christmas, we were praying about the recommendation to do a back surgery to correct Sam’s progressive scoliosis as his spine was impairing lung function. However, before we got to the surgery, we had several hills to climb. In January Sam was hospitalized with pneumonia causing RSV/Influenza. After several scary respiratory episodes with Sam in January and February (911 calls), our Pulmonologist recommended a tracheostomy - surgery to create a hole to his trachea to secure a good airway for him. This surgery was at the end of February. Later, we would find that this would be key for the successful recovery from the back surgery.

Sam’s back surgery was performed March 29th. With much prayer and a giant army of support, Sam endured the 6 hour surgery. Friends and family donated blood and only two units were required. No paralysis resulted. The recovery included lots of swelling -but Sam was amazingly comfortable. The Pediatric ICU doctors were sooo wonderful about monitoring his pain med requirements. In the background were laundry elves, loving babysitters for the other kids, house cleaners, food providers and a team of prayer warriors praying continuously for Sam. David’s parents stayed for two weeks to help carry us through the ordeal. Kelly’s sister and niece came to take care of us after Sam was discharged on April 10th. We were so thankful to have Sam’s website to give our friends and family updates - this site was graciously created and currently maintained by our friend and Sam’s buddy, Chris Howay.

Sam was our hero through it all. He is such a fighter and accepting of what he must endure. He’s so motivated to get past the hard stuff to get to the FUN STUFF in life. He’s currently enjoying 2nd grade. Since February, we’ve had 12 hours of nursing each day to help care for him. A nurse attends school with him. Sam now sleeps with a ventilator hooked up to his trach to help him rest better. He’s not dependent on it - but it gives him more strength through the day. We are optimistically approaching the winter and pray to be pneumonia-free!

Tevah started Kindergarten and is enjoying reading and making new friends, although she misses being at home with her siblings. She still has a wonderful imagination and puts on shows for us all the time at home. And if there’s no audience, she draw’s faces and tapes them on the walls all over the living room! She continues to amaze us with her insight into life and has handled all the Sam’s illnesses with maturity and wisdom beyond her years.

Jacob, 3, is our sweet, cuddly little guy who demands a hug from every stranger he meets. He started a two-day preschool and loves being a “big guy” with a school of his own now. Jacob seems to be fascinated with Tevah’s reading and now demands, “What this start with?” about every object in the house. He just wants to know the letter at the beginning of these words. He’s also still our mechanic kind of guy and asks questions like, “Mommy, what’s inside the walls?” Too cute!

Simone, 1, is into everything!! She’s a busy little bee who won’t take no for an answer. She’s constantly dropping things just to hear herself say, “Uh-Oh!” She’s our little Linus, walking about sucking her thumb and dragging one of two favorite fleece blankets. Her siblings adored her as a tiny baby and now wonder why she doesn’t like it when they squeeze her tight as they try to pick her up and drag her around! She also adores our dog, Smokey, especially his dog food (yuk!).

David rejoiced at becoming a registered Architect after passing the last of his NINE exams - grueling! This is key to advancing his career and we’re just glad the tests are over. He’s still working for HKS in Dallas and is committed to a long-term office expansion project for their client, Fidelity Investments. 2001 is the year that his Masters Thesis will be completed (so she thinks ). We’re gearing up for the time and effort it will take to accomplish this.

Kelly is still working 3 days/week as a software engineer for Xchange, Inc. (who bought ActionSystems). She’s been with this group almost four years. She’s having fun programming and working on the user interface for a web-based product. She goes there to “rest” (don’t tell the boss) from busy days of transporting kids and managing the lives of four little folks. Managing Sam’s care, nurses, supplies, insurance, doctor’s appointments etc is her other part-time job! Other than that, we all just lay around eating bonbons all day long.

Ursula, our nanny, is approaching her 4th anniversary with us. We haven’t scared her off yet and we are so thankful. She pitches in where ever necessary to help us out. She’s priceless. Her husband Larry generously loans her to us and she goes all day to make our lives easier.

In September, we celebrated our 10th anniversary and we’re still pretty dog-gone fond of each other. It’s wonderful to have that peace to know that we’ll go through life and enjoy it all together.

So why do we celebrate Christmas at our house? What effect does Baby Jesus have on us, anyway? Without God’s Son, the lives of all of us Bellers would be hopeless! Through Christ’s life we look forward to an eternity of celebration in God’s presence. Some day our family will gather in Heaven and Sam will say, “Do you remember when I couldn’t talk or walk and was so sick?” It will all seem like a faint memory as we witness God’s full restoration and healing of Sam. What a grand time we will have!!

May God’s love change your life in 2001.

Merry Christmas,
David, Kelly, Sam, Tevah, Jacob and Simone Beller