A Star Ceiling for A Blind Child

Nik and I stood in the Doctor's office mortified by what we were seeing. As our pediatrician shone the light in our baby's eyes, he didn't blink or turn away. He waved the instrument back-and-forth and then dipped the light within an inch of his eye, and still there was no response. We waited for an encouraging word, or an anecdotal story of how this was common in baby boys, but instead we were instructed to make an appointment with a pediatric optomologist. That news was more daunting than the procession of four vaccines that followed.
We left the doctor's office, not sure of what to say to each other. Could it be true that our son couldn't see us? Is that why he hadn't smiled at us yet? A million questions and situations raced through my mind on the way home, and I had a hard time grasping at the fact that our child could be blind.
Of course the easiest thing to do was to think of everything he wouldn't be able to do- sports, driving, and enjoying the vibrant colors God made. Then a very simple, yet chilling, realization came to me -- what about the star ceiling that I have been working on for the past few months? Months before he was born we dreamed of our little man having a Peter Pan themed room, complete with a mural of London and a star ceiling for him to stare at while he goes to bed. The thought of him not being able to see this gift was almost too much to bear.
That night, as Nik read him his bedtime story, I held Drew close and fought back emotion, as best I could. In the end, the thought that my genes could have caused this was too much. How could this happen to my baby, especially after all of the trauma he had been through during the first few weeks of his life?
The next day I felt sick with emotion. Just the thought of something being wrong with Drew made my stomach ache. As the end of the workday neared, Nik and I spoke on the phone, and she reassured me that everything would be alright (a Mother's instinct), and then she commented on something I hadn't thought of. Drew has a light in his eyes, that he wouldn't have if he were blind. Although this didn't give an answer for the problem, it did give me hope that the situation was probably not as bleak as it originally seemed. We are still waiting for a call from the optomologist, but we have hope that we will have some resolve soon. We feel that we see progress everyday, and we hope that someday we'll find that his vision is just a little behind where it should be.

PS -- Drew,
Daddy will have your stars up this weekend. I can't wait for you to see them!