Louie's Smile

There is only one Louie Edlund.  Not only unique in charm, personality, and character.  Unique in every way possible.  Uniquely Louie.  It's one thing to be unique, and another to be TRULY one-of-a-kind.  Louie is all of the above.  Louie is literally one-in-a-million!  Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Louie knows how special he is.  How, in the midst of living with the numerous complications of his rare genetic disorder, he keeps smiling.  He keeps singing!!  Have you heard him SING??  His rendition of "Let It Go" is enough to make Idina Menzel herself envious.   There is also no finer baseball player on the Miracle League field.  No better friend, brother, son, grandson, nephew, student.  Charm, humor, striking good looks, and a TON more.....all in one little package.  Amazing, that kid!

Don't let his soft side fool you though.  Louie is as tough as nails.  The cards he has been dealt are difficult for most of us to understand, and more than most of us would be able to handle while keeping a smile on our face.  I believe I speak for everybody that knows him when I say that he is truly an inspiration.  He inspires me on so many levels.  I could go on and on about all the things Louie has taught me......but this isn't about me, it's about Louie and the struggle that he and his family are currently facing.

Because of his genetic disorder, Louie has a fragile immune system.  He has been hospitalized numerous times this winter, but this latest trip is presenting him with his biggest challenge yet.  Louie is fighting infections, viruses and all of the complications that come with that.  On Sunday night, March 13th, Louie went into respitory failure and was transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children's Hospital.  He was put on a ventilator, and is currently heavily sedated.

As you can imagine, all of this puts a very heavy burden on Ryan, Theresa and Esme.  Not only financially, but also a time and resource burden.  Ryan has to work, Esme has to go to school, they have a house to maintain and a dog (Sheena) that needs to be cared for, and a life that somehow has to continue during this setback.  I have been trying to determine the best way to help our friends during this difficult time, and I've concluded that there isn't just one thing that they need.  They need a bit of everything.  One way we can easily help them is to pool our financial resources.  They can use this money in any way they wish.  They are likely paying for parking, meals, lost work time, insurance co-pays and extra services.  This collection fund will be ongoing.  Please give what you can to help Louie and his family, our friends, our neighbors.......