Christian Michaels Life Story...

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Christian was a very much wanted baby. We were very happy when we found out we were to be parents a second time. Although we had a son - Christopher Robin Copits - we looked forward to Christians birth. The names we picked for him - Christian and Michael were picked as being representative of the protection we hoped he'd have from his Religious namesakes.

So, on June 18, 1983 in St. Vincents Hospital in Worcester, Mass., Christian Michael was born.

At the time of his birth, he rated high on the APGAR scale. But, he immediately aroused the concern of the Doctors and Nurses. He had one episode where they were concerned about his breathing, but it passed.

In a day or so, the Doctors came to me, his Daddy, and started asking questions - such as "Have you had any problems with any of your other children.." etc. They then told me that they were noticing things about Christian not being "..normal..."but that they didn't know exactly what was the matter. That was a phrase we'd hear time and time again over the coming years...

They did many tests and studies, poked and prodded, took blood and had interviews with us over the next few days. Finally they said that Christain had some abnormalities but that they couldn't put a label on them. He was low-muscle toned - hypotonic - and had no sucking reflex. They told us that given all of the problems he had, that it would be better if we just put him in an institution right away and that we'd be lucky if he left the hospital at all, and that if he did leave, he'd likely be a vegatable, and would never walk, talk, feed himself, etc... they were not very positive nor encouraging...

We told them that he would leave, and would be leaving with us. We were not going to put him into any institution of any kind, and that if anyone was going to care for him, it would be us -  his family.

They told us that since he couldn't suck, we would have to feed him through a tube, or slowly squeeze formula from a bottle nipple into his mouth for him to swallow. Feeding him took about 2 hours each feeding, and he had to be fed around the clock. His grandmother had come up for his birth, so between the three of us, we were able to feed him. But, they said, you'd have to do this for the rest of the time he was on formula....and that this around-the-clock feeding may last for several years.

Well, after talking to him and showing him how to suck from a bottle nipple, after about a week he began to deveop the sucking reflex! Little by little we could see improvement, slow but sure.

Finally, after a number of weeks in the hospital, we took Christian Michael home.

We'd like for you to know a little about Christian and his too-short life. This is a short pictorial record of how he grew...

Christian in his Mommys arms - 2 days old!

Christian in his Daddys arms - 4 days old!

Finally, we were able to take Christian Michael home!

Christian in his Mommys arms at 2 Months of age. His brother,Christopher Robin is in his Daddys arms.

Christian in his Christening dress at 3 months of age, a bit sleepy after the ceremony...

Christian in his Mommys arms at 4 months of age....

Christian at 6 months with Mommy and his brother Christopher Robin...

Christian at one year - finally able to sit up easily and hold his head up well...

Christian Michael at his Church Baptism ceremony  - laughing and touching the faceof the Sister who was his sponsor. Although he was Baptised right after he was born (in case of an emergency), he had a formal ceremony at the age of two. Dave and Carrie Richter of Westboro, Mass. were his Godparents...

Christian at age 2 in his high chair at the Abdows restaurant in Westboro, Mass. Eating was one of Christians favorite activities.

Christain at age 3 in his bedroom at home. Two of his friends are in the wicker chairs at either side...

Christian at age 4 - it's Winter out - and his two stuffed bears are there to keep him company before he goes out for a sled ride with Mommy and Daddy....!

It's springtime now - Christian is 4 1/2 years old and is sitting on the front steps of his home in Westboro, Mass. He loved two things - smelling the nice smells of flowers and music...

Christian at age 5 with his brother Christopher Robin at Christmas time in Dayton, Ohio. Christian so loved Christmas - the lights, the sounds, the smells, the food and the presents - and the visitors!

Christain at six years rocking in the rocking chair in his bedroom...

Christian at age 7 - Christmas time at his Grandma's house...

Christian at age eleven....His fine blonde hair is very evident...

Christian - age 12 - sitting in the front porch swing with Daddy. He had the plastic cup that he liked to make noise with. He loved swinging in this swing with Mommy or Daddy - or even by himself. He used to like to come home from his school and sit in the front porch swing and swing and make music. You can see the rose decor that hisMommy painted on the swing... This was the last Summer that Christian Michael was with us...

Christian at age 12. He's standing with his Mommy and Daddy before going to Church. He's holding the plastic staws that he used to like to click together for the sound. This was the summer before he passed away...

That's our brief  look at Christain and how he grew. From the time when the people at the hospital told us he'd never make it out of the hospital to the picture above, Christian always fought against overwhelming odds, always winning. He was seen by the best of doctors and specialists and had a medical file a foot thick. He endured many many tests, shots, prodding, pokings and procedures to try to find out what it was he had and what we could do about it. None of the doctors or specialists were ever able to tell us. The most common things we heard were "Gee, we've never seen THAT before..." or "...I'm afraid that he'll never..." (turn over, crawl, walk, talk, go to school, etc.) - all of which he did. He endured all with a smile and a very cheerful disposition. He'd cry only when something really really hurt him. Many's the time I'd come home from work discouraged or angry - and then to see Christain and spend time with him in the evening after work - all my negativity would disappear, and we'be singing together or talking or making music... You really couldn't be around him and not beim pressed/inspired by his cheerfulness and smiles.

We never really knew what he had - there were several different conditions- juvenile arthritis, osteopetrosis (brittle bone disease), hypotonia, carbonic anhydraseI I deficiency, and was legally blind.... but it didn't matter - he was Our Son - and we felt that if he could go through life with those problems, there was no way any of us would not do our best for him.

He was engaging and had a "magnetic" personality. Although he looked different from other children and was smaller, when you talked to him and saw that big broad smile that he would give you, and the gentle tug on your finger, there was no way your heart wouldn't go out to him. He charmed friends and family alike, and in the schools he went to, all the teachers loved him. His classmates really liked him, and would all want to help him when he had trouble doing something. His friends in other grades loved to help him to the lunchroom and help him if he needed it.

And at the end of his school day, he'd climb down the big high steps from the school bus slowly and painfully, but he wanted to come down himself - and when he made it to the bottom he'd be so proud. Then, into the house, off with the shoes, and he'd have a snack, listen to music, and if were summer, swing on the front porch swing...

We were indeed fortunate to have him for the thirteen years that we did. In the Winter of 1996, on Christmas Day, he sat in his Mommys and Daddys lap, opened presents and played with his fuzzy "Patrick" bear. He ate a big Christmas dinner that night, with his family. He always loved those big dinners - he especially liked mashed potatoes. Then later his Mommy rocked him to sleep in her arms before putting himin his bed.

The next morning I looked in on him as I always did before I went to work. He was awake and smiling. I spoke with him, asked him how he was - he said "Good,Daddy..." and told him I loved him. I gave him a hug and a kiss and went to work. At about ten AM, his mommy looked in on him (we let him sleep in late since the day before had been a bit tiring) and she spoke with him, and asked him if he wanted his favorite toy. He said that he did, and she got it for him. He was playing with it when   the phone rang- it was a relative in another state asking about Christmas and how it went. When she looked back in on him about an hour later he was gone...

They said that he passed away gently and without pain. Many weeks later we found after many tests that he had a very virulent and fast-moving form of Pneumonia called Klebsiella Pneumonia, and that it was a rare form that you could get and be taken away by within 24 hours. We never even knew he had it... The doctors later told us that even if we had realized that he had it, there was very little that could have been done for it...

We were very fortunate to have had Christian for the 13 years that he was with us. We will never forget him....

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