This is a touching true account of a young boy’s love for his newborn sister. If nothing else, it may bring tears to your eyes and underscore the fact, once gain, of the power of music.
Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her three-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They found out that the new baby was going to be a girl, so day after day and night after night, Michael sang to his sister inside Mummy’s tummy. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen, who lived in Morristown, Tennessee.
Then the labor pains came. Every five minutes… then every minute. But complications arose during delivery. Hours of labor. Would a C-section be required? Finally, little Michael’s sister is born.
But she is in a serious condition. A siren howling in the night… the ambulance rushes the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St Mary’s Hospital.
The days inch by. The little girl gets worse. The pediatric specialist tells the parents, “There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst.”
Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their home, now they plan a funeral.
Michael keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister. “I want to sing to her,” he says.
Week number two in Intensive Care. It looks as if a funeral will come before the week is over. Michael keeps nagging about singing to his sister. However, kids are not allowed in Intensive Care.
But Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. If he doesn’t see his sister now, he will probably never see her alive.
She dresses him in an oversized scrub suit and marches to get him into ICU. He looks like a walking laundry basket. The head nurse recognizes him as a child and bellows, “Get that kid out of here – now! There are NO children allowed in ICU.”
The “mother” in Karen rises up strong, and the usually mild-mannered lady glares steel-eyes into the head nurse’s face, her lips a firm line, “He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!”
Karen tows Michael to his sister’s bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant, losing the battle to live, and he begins to sing. In the pure-hearted voice of a three-year-old, Michael sings: ”You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey.”
Instantly, the baby girl responds. Her pulse rate becomes calm and steady.
“Keep on singing, Michael.”
“You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”
The ragged strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten’s purr.
“Keep on singing, Michael.”
Tears conquer the face of the bossy head nurse. Karen glows. Michael sings on.
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”
Funeral plans are scrapped. The next day, the very next day, the little girl is well enough to go home!
Woman’s Day magazine called it “The Miracle of a Brother’s Song”.