October 8, 1990-El Paso Herald-Post
A tiny bundle of life, joy and hope
The medical officer's words hit us hard, "You should think about baptizing the baby!"
It was a jolt for all of us as we saw the newest addition to the family in the infant intensive care unit at William Beaumont Army Medical Center.
A wisp of a child, Brittany Lee Nicole Sánchez Jones weighed in at 5 1/2 pounds. She had such a tender look about her, a sprite kind of demeanor. Now here she was, swaddled in wiring, monitors and needles poking her tiny body.
Her feet were clamped by instruments measuring blood pressure, while her mouth was taped onto tubing to clear her lungs of liquid so that she might have a fighting chance to survive.
Her glistening dark hair was plastered by tape holding other tubing, and the racing numbers on the machines marked the extra high amount of oxygen being steadily pumped into her.
Her mother, Libertad, stood there with her emotions in her eyes while her father, Yawkey Lee, stood with a soidier's sense of duty discipline, though I could easily detect stirring passions running amuck through his heart.
Teresa and I neared each other, straining to hear and fully understand the portentous words, yet not wanting to fully accept the implications. We both knew just how devastating and painful an offspring mortality can be.
All the, while I could see medical personnel methodically and caringly doing their jobs to ensure the survival of their ICU charges.
The technology being utilized fascinated me as I realized how much has been invented this century. The strides made to nurture and expand human survival are stirring statements about human creativity and ability, talent and intelligence.
The diligence of the medical practitioners gave me much hope for the survival of my grandchild. The arrival of Freddie L. and Patricia A. Jones, her paternal grandparents from Mississippi, spoke to the urgency at hand. It was a hectic moment, one which continues being so at this writing - five days later.
It is a scenario being played out by worried parents and relatives throughout the world, as children are constantly in peril. The same kind of intensity and medical care is available in very few places, as not too many nations have the level of sophistication that we take for granted in our nation.
In fact, there are way too many areas of our own nation which lack the same kind of medical sophistication - barrios, ghettos and rural communities without financial resources.
Life is more than a mechanical process, it is a sacred thing. One which demands that we create better venues for expression and realization.
The progress we are making medically should be matched by a more caring and loving expression wherein all sentitent beings are considered sacred and worthy of surviving in order to become creative and productive beings.
As I listened to the beat of the whirring machines and saw the dancing numbers on the monitors, I also saw the stirring of dear Brittany. I visualized a future where medical well-being might just become a real "human right," and not a privilege in our pain-seared world. The professional and warm concern on the officers' faces gave me a ray of hope, a deeper sense of our mutual humanity.