And still, he defied expectations.
Dave, now 32, and Kerri, 35, had heard predictions that he would not see his first birthday. But Dylan saw that one and three more. And though these anniversaries brought no corresponding developmental milestones - no first steps, no first words, no first anything - the parents built two loving homes for their son.
They never married. Although their engagement weeks after Dylan's birth reflected good intentions, their short romance dissolved in the difficulty of caring for a severely disabled child and they called it off. Yet they remained committed to their son, mutually respectful and supportive as caregivers.
Even as they moved apart, Dylan's life bound them.
But by the middle of his fifth year last summer, the boy's seizures had intensified. Although doctors countered by increasing his medication, the spasms repeatedly burst through the chemical buffer.
I hope others can read the whole and long detailed article, but I am unable to get through it.
8mm
How to murder and be happy and self satisfied. Shades of Mikey and the Murderers, here is their pastor:
Pastor Buddy, on the staff of a large non-denominational congregation, knew Kerri and Dave from previous hospital visits in which he'd prayed with them and Dylan. This time, he asked the Lord to give the parents clear understanding of what they were supposed to do later that day; he did not presume to know the answer.
It took me a long time, not just to read it, but to digest it. I had to take it in small bite-sized readings. Too much for one sitting. I am duly horrified.