Profumo di pioggia

Marzo, un vento freddo soffiava contro la finestra di un ospedale di Dallas. In quel momento entrava un dottore nella camera di Diana Blessing, che aveva appena subito un intervento chirurgico.

Suo marito, David, le teneva stretta la mano mentre attendevano notizie. Il pomeriggio precedente, il 10 Marzo, delle complicazioni l'avevano costretta ad un parto cesareo, alla 24 settimana, che aveva fatto nascere la figlia della coppia, Dane Lu Blessing.

I neo genitori erano a conoscenza che la neonata pesava 708 grammi, che raggiungeva 30 centimetri e mezzo di lunghezza, e che era prematura, ma nonostante tutto le parole del dottore li colpirono.

"Non credo che la bambina abbia molte probabilità di sopravvivere" disse loro nel modo più delicato possibile.

"C'è il 10 per cento delle probabilità che sopravviva alla notte, ed anche se ciò accadesse per qualche miracolo, le probabilità che abbia complicazioni future è molto alta"

Paralizzati dalla paura i coniugi David e Diana ascoltavano le parole del dottore che descriveva loro tutti i problemi che avrebbe dovuto affrontare la neonata.

Non essere mai in grado di camminare, parlare, di vedere, ritardata mentalmente e molto altro ancora.

Diana con il marito David ed il loro figlioletto di 5 anni, speravano tanto che un giorno Dana avrebbe allietato la loro famiglia.

Ed ora, nel giro di poche ore, vedevano tutti i loro sogni e desideri allontanarsi per sempre.

Ma i loro guai non erano finiti, il sistema nervoso della piccola non era ancora sviluppato. Quindi qualunque carezza, bacio o abbraccio era per Dana pericoloso, i familiari, sconsolati, non potevano neanche trasmetterle il loro amore. Dovevano evitare di avvicinarsi a lei. Tutto quello che potevano fare era di pregare il Signore che si prendesse cura della loro piccola, che la cullasse e la facesse sentire amata.

Non crederono alla loro fortuna quando Dana cominciò a migliorare.

Passavano le settimane e la piccola continuava a prendere peso e diventare più forte.

Finalmente, quando Dana compì 2 mesi i suoi genitori poterono abbracciarla per la prima volta.

Due mesi dopo, mentre i dottori li avvertivano che comunque la bambina avrebbe potuto peggiorare in qualunque momento, Dana uscì dall'ospedale e finalmente andò a casa con la sua famiglia.

Cinque anni dopo Dana, era diventata una bambina serena che guardava verso il futuro con fiducia e con tanta voglia di vivere.

Non c'erano segni di deficienza fisica o mentale, era una bambina normale che viveva la sua vita. Ma questa non è la fine della nostra storia.

Un caldo pomeriggio del 1996 Dana era seduta in braccio alla mamma. Erano in un parco non lontano da casa (Irving, Texas) dove suo fratello Dustin giocava a calcio con i suoi amici.

Come sempre chiacchierava felice con la sua mamma, quando all'improvviso si zittì. Abbracciò la mamma e le chiese: "Lo senti?"

Diana sentendo nell'aria che si avvicinava la pioggia rispose "Si. Profuma come quando sta per piovere."

Dana chiuse gli occhi e ridomandò: "Lo senti?"

Ancora una volta la mamma gli rispose, "Mi sa che tra un po' saremo tutte bagnate, sta per piovere."

Dopo un po' Dana alzò la testa e accarezzandosi le braccia esclamò: "No, profuma come LUI.

Profuma come quando Dio ti abbraccia forte."

Diana cominciò a piangere calde lacrime mentre la bambina raggiungeva le sue amiche per giocare con loro.

Le parole della figlia avevano confermato ciò che sapeva in cuor suo ormai da tanto tempo.

Durante tutto il periodo in ospedale, mentre lottava per la sua vita, Dio si era preso cura della piccola abbracciandola così spesso che il suo profumo era rimasto impresso nella memoria di Dana.

Adesso puoi scegliere. Puoi mandare ad altri questa storia, e far in modo che altri si commuovano come te, oppure puoi cancellare tutto e fingere che non ti ha toccato neanche un po'.
È UNA TUA SCELTA!

"Sono capace perché LUI me ne da la forza"

Quel mattino, quando Dio ha aperto la porta al cielo mi ha visto e mi ha chiesto: "Figlia mia, qual'è il più grande desiderio del tuo cuore?"

Gli ho risposto:

"Dio, abbi cura della persona che leggerà questa storia, di tutta la sua famiglia e tutti i suoi amici. Se lo meritano."

L'amore di Dio è grande come un oceano: vedi dove inizia ma non vedi la fine.

Questa preghiera è valida nel giorno nel quale ti arriva. Aiutaci a spargerla nel mondo.

GLI ANGELI ESISTONO! Solo che a volte non hanno ali e li chiamiamo amico.

Non interrompere questa preghiera, prega con noi.

Secondo il sito http://www.truthorfiction.com la storia di Dana è vera.
Ecco alcune notizie:

"The Smell of Rain," an Inspirational Story about a Premature Baby-Truth!

Summary of eRumor:
The story of Diana and David Blessing and their daughter, Danae, born when Diana had been pregnant for only 24 weeks. (Read the entire piece below.)

The Truth:
This is one of the most widely circulated inspirational stories on the Internet and one of the most commonly forwarded to us.
TruthOrFiction.com has been in contact with the Blessings who confirm that the story is true and that now 9 year-old Danae is doing wonderfully.

Here are excerpts from Diana Blessing's message to us on 8/21/00:

"Yes, the story known as THE SMELL OF RAIN is true.

"The original title is 'Heaven Scent'. About 5 years ago now, the C.E.O. of Columbia hospitals decided to compile some of the wonderful stories that he had received and put them into a book formatted similar to the 'Chicken Soup' series. This book was titled 'Miracles In Our Midst.' Danae's story was submitted and picked in rough draft written by my mother. The 'writers' then called and interviewed me, finalizing the story from this interview. When the book was released, he decided to use his, 'favorite story' to promote the book on the internet. It happened to be Danae's story. People then began the long journey that has now revolved over and over all around the globe as they took that little story and forwarded it to their friends and loved ones. The story has been in numerous church newsletters, two magazines and has most recently been published in the latest 'Chicken Soup' book titled 'Chicken Soup For The Christian Family Soul.'

"Danae is now a lively, beautiful, active, free-spirited, blissful, God-loving fourth-grader. She is in the Gifted and Talented program. Still petite, but growing daily. She loves to play 'active' sports. Soccer, softball, basketball. She had taken gymnastics and loved it. Especially the fact that she shares a birthday with Shannon Miller, but decided to stick with the more aggressive sports. She swims like a little fish. Loves all animals. Has several of her own.

"Danae has a compassion for other people that I have never witnessed with another child and I work with children daily. She is a pure joy to be around and is NEVER at a loss for words. When I first began getting response from the story I was startled. I quickly realized that God was working his magic. I praised him for allowing me to be blessed in such a way that I see his well doings each and every day. My husband and I decided that if sharing Danae's story touched even one person, than that is what was meant to be. I know now that it has touched many, many and continues everyday. I am so grateful to know the Lord and to have him so evident before us. I am also thankful for the widespread response and blessings from so many of the people that have received the story and have been touched by it. Hopefully it will continue to spread the news of God's love.

"I knew when I first saw Danae that she could not and would not be contained. She screamed to be shared. We couldn't walk in the grocery store without someone commenting about her. So, I painfully acknowledged the fact that she would not be mine alone. Danae has a lot to give. This story is only the beginning.

"Thank you for taking the time to verify the truth. I am excited to imagine all the lives that will be touched even now that they know it is true!

Sincerely,

Diana Blessing-Luckiest Mom on Earth!

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

The Smell of Rain

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the Doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10,1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24 weeks pregnant, to Danae Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. I don't think she's going to make it, he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10 percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one." Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Danae would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on. "No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away.

Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest thread, Diana slipped in and out of sleep, growing more and more determined that their tiny daughter would live, and live to be a healthy, happy young girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable. David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral arrangements. Diana remembers, 'I felt so bad for him because he was doing everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't listen, I couldn't listen. I said, "No, that is not going to happen, no way! I don't care what the doctors say; Danae is not going to die! One day she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"

As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life hour after hour, with the help of every medical machine and marvel her miniature body could endure. But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Danae's under-developed nervous system was essentially raw, the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl. There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger.

But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there. At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later-though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero. Danae went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Today, five years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She shows no signs, what so ever, of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she is everything a little girl can be and more-but that happy ending is far from the end of her story.

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ballpark where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Danae was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain." Danae closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet, it smells like rain. Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest." Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play with the other children.

Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along. During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well. You now have 1 of 2 choices...you can either pass this on and let other people catch the chills like you did, or you can delete this and act like it didn't touch your heart like it did mine.

IT'S YOUR CALL!