Beyond the Box
Beyond the Box with Monica Kelsey is a powerful podcast dedicated to raising awareness, educating the public, and advocating for change in the fight against infant abandonment. Hosted by Monica Kelsey, Founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, this podcast dives deep into real stories, expert insights, and the life-saving impact of Safe Haven laws and baby box programs across the country.
Each episode features compelling conversations with firefighters, legal experts, healthcare professionals, policymakers, adoptive families, and even mothers who have used Safe Haven Baby Boxes. Together, they shed light on the challenges, victories, and ongoing efforts to provide safe, legal, and anonymous surrender options for parents in crisis.
From heartwarming rescue stories to policy discussions shaping the future, Beyond the Box is a must-listen for anyone passionate about saving lives and supporting vulnerable infants.
Beyond the Box
From Safe Haven to Eternal Rest: Christian's Journey
Find Safe Haven Baby Boxes on:
Find Monica Kelsey on:
TikTok
this is Monica Kelsey from beyond the box. We are on the road today in Melbourne, arkansas, and I can't wait to share with you the story. Welcome to Beyond the Box.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit a different background here because we're on the road. Thank you for inviting us into your home and your work and your lives here. For those who don't know who you are and might not know the story, give us a little brief into the life of Samantha and why. Well, let me back up. Let me start over here. I'll start over because it's Samantha and Mason. See, I ought to screw that up, so that's a good thing. Okay, welcome to Beyond the Box with Monica Kelsey. I am so glad to screw that up, so that's a good thing. Okay, welcome to Beyond the Box with Monica Kelsey. I am so glad to be here in Melbourne today. Thank you for inviting us into your home and your work and your lives and sharing a little piece of your story with us For those who don't know who you are. Why are you guys so important to Monica Kelsey?
Speaker 2:Well, my name is Samantha Pennington. This is my husband, mason. We were so blessed to be able to take care of a baby who was dropped off at Safe Haven Baby Box in Benton, 2023. And we were so blessed to be able to provide for him. He was a special needs baby with a rare genetic disorder, and so, for 11 months, we took care of him, loved on him. He was a special needs baby with a rare genetic disorder, and so, for 11 months, we took care of him, loved on him. We're just so blessed to be able to be a part of his life and part of his story, and I'm excited to be able to share it with everyone.
Speaker 1:So there's so many questions I have, oh my gosh. So you know, jessie, she sets all these up for me and she's like did you get the questions that I sent? And I said I didn't bring them and I don't want them because I want to learn, as everyone else learns, the story. I know a little bit because we've texted back and forth over the last couple of years and so I know a little bit, but I don't know a lot, and so I am super excited to ask questions. If you don't want to answer something, just just don't answer it or just say it's too personal or whatever, because sometimes I kind of get into the weeds of stuff. But so this is back in 2023.
Speaker 2:So were you guys foster parents. We were an open adoptive home. So back in 2022 is when we filled out our initial paperwork. We became an open home early 2023 so like open home.
Speaker 1:what does that mean? Like, like a foster home or just you wanted to adopt?
Speaker 2:Okay, Strictly adoptive. We did not want to foster We've always. We were high school sweethearts so we've known for forever that we wanted to adopt and so we went ahead and filled out the paperwork and had that open home and we're just kind of waiting until they had an open adoptive child ready and we had said that our home would be open to six and under. But we were really hoping for a baby. I was hoping for a baby, but we became open late 2022, early 2023.
Speaker 1:So that's when you started the process or that's when you became licensed?
Speaker 2:Became licensed it took about a year and I will admit I was kind of slow in filling out our paperwork and everything. Life, life happens, things happen, and so it doesn't usually take that long. But I was a little bit slow to get everything done, and so we officially became licensed then.
Speaker 1:At the end of 2022. Yes, okay, and so do you have other children? No, so Christian was your only child. Okay, so you guys were high school sweethearts. Infertility yes, so you guys were high school sweethearts, infertility yes, okay, so you guys knew pretty quickly that adoption was going to be what you guys wanted to do. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So this is not what we thought of back in high school, when we were planning our lives and trying to plan what it was going to look like. But this is where God placed us and the situation that we're in, and so we have struggled with infertility and we've went through. I went through, I think, 13 rounds of IVF a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I really, really pushed myself, push my body and but, like I said, we always knew we wanted to adopt, no matter what happened, and but we kind of were faced with this situation and we were like, well, maybe it's God's way to tell us that we need to go ahead and start our paperwork and open our home through DHS. And we looked into private adoption and I felt like we should start with DHS. And we went through an organization called the Call in Arkansas. It's a Christian organization that kind of just helps you with your paperwork, helps you with your CE and how to process everything and how everything should go, and they're also your advocates through everything as well, and so that's who we went through to get all of this done and started.
Speaker 1:So every state is different. So I'm just trying to wrap my head around how Arkansas does it. So, through the Department of Child Services, they have a program where you can only adopt and you don't have to foster. Okay, cause some States you have to foster to be able to adopt, and so Arkansas is a little bit different. So I'm glad that we clarified that, cause that was kind of confusing to me because I'd never heard that. But it's. It's nice because all of you know when, when you guys sign up to be adoptive parents, you already know that the termination of parental rights has happened, so you don't have to fight. Yes, okay, so that that actually makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2:That was part of our decision because of the the grief and the agony that goes with fostering, which we have fostered um, we're currently fostering right now. We fostered a baby recently. We're fostering a six-year-old right now. So we know the the grief and the heartache that goes with fostering and so we kind of wanted to just be an adoptive home at that point, and part of that was because of the struggles of fostering and really tearing your heart out doing that.
Speaker 1:Now, how long have you guys been married?
Speaker 3:Twelve years, twelve years wow. We've been together 16. Wow, and when I grew up I did have foster siblings that were coming in and out of the house, and so after long experiences with them, that's kind of why I was really wanting to just do adoptive only at first. But now we've kind of opened up more of our home for some fosters.
Speaker 2:We can't say no.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then my brother. We ended up adopting him.
Speaker 3:When I was a kid I was gonna ask if there was adoption in your family, yes, so that's what kind of led me to always saying that I wanted to adopt a kid.
Speaker 1:So that's yeah, most of the time. If you've played a part in somebody else's life through adoption, you want to add that to to your life as well. So okay, so that makes that makes perfect sense. Now I was like they've got to have adoption in their family somewhere, so okay, so. So let's go back to 2022, right after you guys got licensed. Had you ever heard of safe haven baby boxes before?
Speaker 2:honestly, maybe, but I didn't know a whole lot about it. Um, might have heard it in passing, but I couldn't have told you what it was exactly. Did you know the safe haven law? I'd heard of it. I didn't know necessarily that there were boxes, and I think that's when I'm advocating now. I'm telling people about it. They're like well, you can just drop off a baby at a hospital. And I'm like, well, that's part of the safe haven law. But there are safe haven boxes, baby boxes. But I will tell you I wasn't completely educated on it before then.
Speaker 1:Most people aren't, you know. It's like people weren't talking about it before.
Speaker 1:And when the boxes came out, we started an entire campaign of education and awareness. That became like huge, because that's when people started to see what it actually was, and it was more education and awareness through the babies that were saved, because when a baby is saved, we not only celebrate this life, but we thank the parent and then we educate the community that, hey, this baby was saved by a program that does this, and so that's where most people are getting their education from. Is the success of the program, and so did you guys. Okay, so so back in 2022, um, when the first baby because benton has had three infants in their box, so the first baby, baby ollie, uh, I think was in 2019.
Speaker 1:2019, I think or maybe it was 2020. My numbers all run together. We actually got a call today that we had another baby in our box, and then we got another call that we had a handoff down in Atlanta. And it's like today's just been like a bunch of numbers for me so. But so did you guys hear of the first baby that was surrendered in the Benton box? I mean, do you guys remember that story?
Speaker 3:at all. I do not personally. I just remember when the second one happened.
Speaker 2:For sure, I remember the second one, I couldn't tell you. I can't point out the exact instance. I feel like I've probably heard about it, saw it on Facebook maybe, but I can't pinpoint exactly.
Speaker 1:And so it was probably a year, maybe two years later that we got the second and the third baby in the Benton box. And so you guys heard about the second baby in the Benton box, yes, and so what was your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:Well, by that point we had been an open home and had been open for six months or so, waiting ready, and so when we heard that thought on the news, we were like maybe we'll get the call, maybe they'll tell us about it. And we didn't, but that's okay. We were just really anxious and hoping. And then it turns out not three weeks later we got the call about Christian and changed our lives forever, so that was three weeks after the second baby.
Speaker 3:I believe so.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it wasn't too much longer after the second baby that the third baby came. And I remember that night when Chief Evans called me because I was like wait, what Are you sure? You know, because it doesn't happen that often at one location. I mean, we get calls all the time from across the country, but the same location twice in one month is just usually just doesn't happen that way. Yeah, and so for him to call us and tell us okay, so, um, so what were you doing when you got the call? I mean obviously.
Speaker 1:Christian was placed in the Safe Haven Baby Box, the Benton Fire Department, in 2023, transported to the closest medical facility for evaluation, and then that's where you guys come in.
Speaker 3:Yes, Well, that morning we were on a hot air balloon in Pagosa Springs, colorado.
Speaker 1:So you guys weren't even in town? No, we weren't even in town.
Speaker 3:Then we went on the Silverton train ride and by the time we got there I had a couple messages and missed calls from a number I didn't recognize, and that was them calling us, DHS, calling us about Christian. And so, anyways, they called us and told us we could be involved and we came straight home.
Speaker 1:That's how that happened so yeah, were you guys planning on coming home right away?
Speaker 3:not necessarily.
Speaker 1:We rushed home a little bit yeah, we did rush home quicker than we anticipated, though okay, so so you get the call. You guys are in colorado. You guys are like we're we're skipping out, we're heading home we got to go meet our son, yeah, and so he was at the hospital still, and and so walking into that room, I mean I'm like so curious about.
Speaker 3:Well, it the first thing we see cry.
Speaker 1:I have to ask did you cry? Well, we got chill bumps a little bit, the first thing we see. Did you cry? I have to ask Did you cry Well?
Speaker 3:we got chill bumps a little bit. The first thing we saw when we walked in was there was blankets and decorations and it was hot air balloons. And that's what we were on in Colorado that morning that we found out about him, and that's how they decorated the nursing staff. It was excellent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, his little pod head. That's how they decorated it, which is just so amazing.
Speaker 1:So we both walked in and we just were like yep, that's a guy thing.
Speaker 2:He's your son. Yeah, I mean we were scared, we didn't know what was going to happen and on the ride from Colorado they had kind of let us know he's not super healthy, there may be something wrong. I'm just letting you know. And so we were really praying about it on our drive there and we didn't know what we were going to get ourselves into what's happening.
Speaker 2:This baby is not healthy. What's going to happen? Is he going to have a disease? So we were scared. And then I just remember walking in the room and he was just turning the corner and he was just laying there in his little pod and it just brought tears to my eyes. He was by himself and he was just laying there in his little pod and it just, I mean it brought tears to my eyes. He was by himself and he was just laying there and I just thought to myself like this baby was left and he's just sitting here by himself, laying here by himself, and now he's ours, he's our baby now. And the nurse told us okay, hold him and get together for a picture. This is your first family picture. And it dawned on me like, wow, this is my family, this is our first family picture together, and so that was one of the pictures that I had shared. Is that very first picture? When that nurse said that, it really like clicked to me this is our family, this is our life now.
Speaker 1:You know that nurse doing that. I don't think she realized the impact that that one photo would have. You know now that Christian's, you know, gone. But wow, okay. So you walk in. You see him, probably perfect, oh yeah, literally just perfect. And so what are the next steps? When did you find out that he was sick? He was really, really sick.
Speaker 2:They did testing.
Speaker 1:And let's be clear for the people on the podcast it wasn't abuse, it wasn't anything like that. This was a genetic condition why he was sick.
Speaker 2:Yes. So we really didn't know until the tests started coming back. When they contacted us on our way back home, they said well, there were some abnormal results, we don't really know for sure. Then we got some more results back and they said most likely he has possible Zellwegers. And then more results came back and they said they confirmed that he definitely had. It's called pseudo-Zellwegers. The clinical term is D-bifunctional protein protein deficiency.
Speaker 2:So the peroxomes of his cells do not work, and so his body couldn't get rid of fatty acids and couldn't process things like like they should, and so it caused seizures, feeding issues, muscle issues he had no muscle tone at all and then we also found out he had folds on his brain and that they were going to progress, and so that scared us even more and I do have a medical background, being a pharmacist, but you know I'm not a nurse, I'm not in there doing things and so we both were very scared about what we were going to do and how we were going to care for this child.
Speaker 2:And so before we discharged we had a big meeting in a big room and it was full of social workers and DHS and hospice staff and doctors and APRNs and nurses and psychologists and just neurologists. It was a huge room full of people, just packed with people, and we all talked about his care, what his life would look like and what needed to happen, and they all came to the conclusion that he needed to be placed on hospice and that would be the best thing for him, not knowing how long his lifespan would be. And so we were kind of like, okay, well, this is what we're going to do.
Speaker 2:We're going to bring home this baby on hospice and we're going to take care of it and we're going to bring home this baby on hospice and we're going to take care of it and we're going to give him the best life possible and whatever that means.
Speaker 1:Whatever that means or however long that is. So you bring him home knowing that he's not going to be with you guys forever, that his life is going to be cut short. What's it like at your house every day? I mean, was it sad, or were you guys no?
Speaker 3:I mean, no, it was well from the early stages, even though his seizures were kind of being um, controlled, watched and controlled and stuff. So he started developing a little personality and could smile over time and we could see progression. We were taking him to physical therapy, taking him to OT, taking him to all his appointments. You could see glimpses of hope throughout the process. So me and him, for me it was just the perfect timing, because we don't know what qualifications or anything that the mom had if she would be able to help with a medically complex kid that's needing all kinds of medicine. How many different medicines a day was he taking?
Speaker 2:say sometimes up to like 30 doses a day.
Speaker 3:Yes, and so, her being a pharmacist and luckily well kind of, I just had a procedure on back so I was working from home at that time. So as soon as we found out about him, I mean it was perfect timing and perfect placement for him.
Speaker 1:Christ always has perfect timing. Yep For sure.
Speaker 3:So I was at home, working from home, and she had the medical knowledge. And our everyday day-to-day is I was just working from home. He was sitting cuddled up with me, me and we'd be watching a ball game or doing something, and he just cuddled right up next to you.
Speaker 1:So yeah, did you ever think that the diagnosis was wrong? That he would live forever?
Speaker 3:oh yeah, 100, yeah well, that's what we took him to all his therapy.
Speaker 2:We did everything we could, just hoping that you know in my mind I was like we're gonna do everything that we can.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna treat him and I was like we're going to do everything that we can.
Speaker 2:I'm going to treat him and I was very, very close with his neurologist and that's how we were able to manage his meds. And I would tell her, you know, I think we need to do this, and she would say, okay, we'll change it to this dose and we'll do this or that. And we were very close with his complex care physician and his PCP. We took him to all of his appointments and so in my mind, in the back of my mind, I knew, but hope, and I just we really I really thought he's gonna, he's gonna break, break the barrier and he's gonna live longer than any other kid with this disease. I knew in the back of my mind, we both did. But even up until the end we were I mean even till the very end we were hopeful that you know, maybe, maybe something could happen and he would break the barrier.
Speaker 2:But in for the first couple of months, three or four months he did really good. And at his evaluation so for kids in foster care they have to go to it's called a pace evaluation, and so at his evaluation he scored good, he scored average on everything, and so that really gave me hope. Like he's gonna, he's gonna do awesome and he did for the first couple of months. He progressed and he could smile a little bit and he could. He said mama, he would, he would babble.
Speaker 2:I don't think you know what he was saying but he would say mama, mama it was a big deal though yeah it was, and so he was progressing good um at first his growth was off the charts.
Speaker 3:He was literally 99 percentile and hot. So he was growing like we knew he was getting doing good, yeah, he was eating and getting the development he needed.
Speaker 1:So we yeah we were hopeful what's the chance that a pharmacist it's a complex kid that needs, you know, that kind of observation to adjust. You know to work that closely with the neurologist. I mean Christ had his hand on this entire situation from the beginning you being off work, at home, working so that you could love on him for the 11 months he was here while she worked. You know, and it's like you just can't make any sense of this other than this is christ-driven, this, this is something that is totally beyond the balloons in the.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean. It's like that's just. That just solidifies it, you know. So when did you guys notice that he was not getting better, that he was going backwards, like because for the longest time you guys were taking him to the classes and stuff and he was starting to look like you know, like he possibly might. You know what? What is the average lifespan for someone with this disease?
Speaker 2:I think the maximum is two years. Average is one year average is one okay.
Speaker 1:So when did he, when did he start to make a turn that you guys started to really get concerned? Well, around Christmas time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's what I was going to say, basically he would look around and he could be attentive and pay attention to us. And then after the seizures and the infantile spasms started progressing so much that he lost that kind of look in his eye. So much that he lost that kind of look in his eye, and we knew that he was kind of, you know, he was kind of just not thriving as he once was and we could tell that that little glow that he had in his eye wasn't there no more and he just started closing his eyes more often and kind of having more seizures. And after Christmas we kind of knew it was starting to go downhill.
Speaker 1:How many seizures a day?
Speaker 2:Sometimes up to 40. And he had infantile spasms, which is separate from like epileptic seizures, so he had those as well. And so 30, 40 a day sometimes. Sometimes we would have good days and he would only have like 10. But sometimes we'd have some really bad days and I specifically remember it was Christmas Eve and we had had a get together with my family and that night was the first night that that I had to do CPR on him and we had to start his oxygen up and and we really thought, you know, this may be, this may be the end. This was the first time this had happened to us and that's when I kind of knew that he was not doing very well.
Speaker 1:So how many times did that happen?
Speaker 2:Four maybe.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I had to give him CPR a couple times and the very last time when we had a med flight, it was pretty severe. I just I was gone for like three or four hours and soon as I was pulling in the driveway she called me and said something was happening and so I went in there and did CPR and we got med flight and kind of brought him back because oxygen dropped to zero.
Speaker 3:So and uh, it was scary and then med flighted him, and then that's where he remained so we had three separate uh hospital admissions.
Speaker 2:The first one um, I took him not really knowing how bad he was and we got him to the emergency room and they checked his oxygen and it was like at 18 percent and I knew that he was struggling but I didn't know it was that bad and so they immediately intubated him and I just remember standing outside the room just terrified and but I wanted to make sure I was watching everything that was going on and could keep track of. Okay, they're doing this, they're going to start this and, you know, keep track of everything that's going on. He was there for about three weeks I think during that stay.
Speaker 3:With pneumonia.
Speaker 2:Pneumonia is what led him there. And then he got out and he was doing good and then he ended up being med-flotted from our yard. They got a helicopter in the field across from our yard and we med-flotted him. That time he had COVID and that's what got him Directly like less?
Speaker 3:what 10 days less? Than 10 days after the pneumonia it got COVID.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then we celebrated Easter and we thought he was going to get better. I think the day after Easter he was discharged and then we had him home for week or two maybe and then we um called an ambulance and we we had another encounter where we didn't know if he was going to make it. We gave him cpr, we started his oxygen, we had his concentrator go and just trying to do what we could to just get him to the hospital. And we took an ambulance that time and mason almost beat. I think mason beat us there. I was in the ambulance with them and he was in his truck rushing there I'll beat the med flight and the ambulance.
Speaker 3:He did.
Speaker 2:We won't talk about that, yeah yeah so that time he stayed in the hospital.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about the last day. He was still in the hospital, so he was in the hospital. So what was that last day like? Well, yeah, we knew did the doctors tell you, or you just in your heart?
Speaker 2:you just knew well, we, we made the decision. Um, he was, um, they had intubated him and he was doing good and they were actually able to extubate him and he was doing great, I mean. So I lived at the hospital at that time. Luckily, my boss told me to just take care of my baby and the pharmacy would work, and he drove back and forth. But I lived there at that time and he was doing good enough that I went to work that Saturday. I needed to get out. My dad came to watch him and then I got a call that he wasn't doing very well and we had to decide right then we can either intubate him right now, and he probably won't ever be extubated again, or we can just see what happens, and I'm not going to not intubate him if he needs help breathing.
Speaker 2:And so we made the decision to have him intubated and then he that we were told by the doctor really very nice doctor sat down with us and said he's not doing good at all, he is not doing well, His blood oxygen levels are not good, His blood gases are not good. He's here, but he's not really here, and so we really struggled with what to do, and it's a hard decision that I hope no one else ever has to be in that situation where you were making that decision my for death for a baby but we knew that he was declining and us keeping him on event was not doing him any good.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And so we had to make that decision. So we knew we were aware of what was going to happen. We planned it out. His 11 month birthday was the day that we found out or the day before, and so we planned an 11 month old party for him. We decorated his entire room. My mom and I went to party city and got all kinds of dinosaur decorations and confetti and balloons and everything we could, and we we really decorated that room up and took lots of pictures with him with the 11 month old sign and all that, and we really made a big deal of it.
Speaker 2:And the hospital, the PICU, did too, making sure we celebrated his birthday and we didn't want it to happen on that day and so we decided, the next day is when we would extubate him and we would just wait to see what happens, knowing that he most likely would not be able to survive. And so we were aware when it happened and we were aware before, and it's just really hard to know that that's your baby and that's your decision. You know we made that decision for him and I still struggle Even today just thinking about it. But I know that he was in pain, he couldn't breathe, he, he was not there, there was no, like Mason said, no light in his eyes, no glimmer in his eyes. He, he wasn't there at all. And his, he had hydrocephalus and the fluid in his brain had increased and continued to increase. And he, his head was very large and he couldn't get rid of this fluid. He couldn't get rid of the, um, the mucus in his chest. There's just so many factors going on.
Speaker 2:And so we, we prepared that night and we prayed a lot and we had a lot of discussions with the doctors and the nurses there and, um, they, they let me give him a bath that night, and we really got him clean and got him ready to go. And then they gave us our privacy in a very private room. We moved to an area that was not near the general PICU and they gave us our privacy in the room and after they extubated him, we were able to hold him and just be with him through it all and and help guide him, guide him to to Jesus, and that was that was difficult. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do or will ever have to do, and he was a fighter, just like he was his entire life, and he fought. For how many hours?
Speaker 3:six longer than that? Yeah, it was longer than anyone expected.
Speaker 2:Um, but I.
Speaker 3:I knew. I said it could be like two minutes and it was, I think, six to eight hours like oh my gosh, you really put up a fight.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I mean I knew he was a fighter through everything right so me and Mason are like I don't know, he may fight through this.
Speaker 2:He may and he didn't. And he fought and he really kept his levels up for a long time and we were like, wow, he's doing good, he's, his oxygen's pretty good, he's doing good. And then he slowly started declining and we knew that it was going to come up soon and we were both laying right next to him on the bed with him when he passed away. We had a doctor come in and it has to be confirmed by a doctor and she looked me in the eyes and she said Christian is dead those words those exact words.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that they have to tell you that exactly. They can't say passed away, they have to use like the medical term, but it really that doesn't help though it really seared a hole in my heart just hearing those words, and we had to get his body prepared to be taken down, and so we packed up all of our things. I mean, I had been living in the PICU for months.
Speaker 2:And so we had to pack up our things and we had family in the waiting room, we had our preacher, we had people waiting there for us and family who knew what was going on, that were waiting by their phones to hear what happened and what was going on, and so we said our goodbyes and left the hospital that night and it's just a feeling that you never really think about people in these situations. We walked out of the hospital without a baby and just with our bags and had to drive ourselves home and go to a home with no, no baby in the baby bedroom, just just us in our home. And it was.
Speaker 1:It was hard um, you had a service for him. Um, how I've never lost a child and um, I couldn't imagine the heartache that goes with it. But does it bring you a little bit of peace, knowing that he's not in pain and that he's? You know he's already kissed the face of Jesus. You know that you're going to see him again, yes, but you know you had a service for him. Were people surprised at how much he fought?
Speaker 2:Were people surprised at how much he fought. We didn't share a lot of that side of what happened with his passing with a whole lot of people, but I think a lot of people were surprised with how hard he fought through his entire journey, starting with being a safe haven baby and then continued through his disease progression to just be a fighter. Through all the seizures and through everything that he went through, all the pain, everything he was a fighter for sure.
Speaker 1:What's one amazing memory you have of him?
Speaker 2:Well, my favorite memory was in October. That was the time when he was the most lively and could make just a little bit of smirks and could show his personality. I mean, we could tell when he was giving us a look or something. Maybe not a whole lot of other people could, but we knew his micro-expressions. And I went to Walmart and bought some hay bales and some pumpkins and things like that and set it up in the yard and took ball pictures of him and he was more lively that day and was making some faces and was moving around a little bit. And that's my favorite memory with him. I don't know what yours is.
Speaker 1:He was probably thinking what in the?
Speaker 2:heck, why are you setting me on this hay bale? What is this thing?
Speaker 1:What about you, Mason?
Speaker 3:Nothing in particular, just a whole bunch of a couple different things.
Speaker 3:Me and him just cuddling, watching sports or watching whatever Movies just throughout the day, and then riding around listening to music, just taking him to all his therapy appointments, just watching him in the back to make sure he's still sitting there, and he didn't have any control over his head. So we had a. He had a little thing that went around like a headband that kind of strapped his head in. So I'd be watching him, monitoring and we'd just be listening to music and so just hanging out so afterwards, after he passed away, just looking in that rearview mirror, he wasn't there no more.
Speaker 3:It was different.
Speaker 1:Right. I can't imagine that that would be hard is not having him. After you've had him, you know there's a birth mom out there that might not even know the story of her son that you guys played such a huge loving part of his life from the moment that she lovingly surrendered him because she couldn't do whatever you know, she couldn't care for him or she didn't have a place for him, or whatever her story is.
Speaker 2:What would you say to her? I hope this reaches her um. She was so brave and I'm so thankful that she made that decision. For whatever reason that was, thank you for letting me care for your child and to love on him and to be able to provide him with all that he needed. There couldn't be more perfect parents than us. We were chosen to be able to care for him and I'm just so proud of her for the decision that she made. I know it was not easy. I can't imagine. I hope that she sees this and she knows that her baby was taken care of and loved and that she made a good decision, a good choice.
Speaker 1:I think she'll know that if she sees this. So let's shift gears for a second. So let's talk about what's happening right now in your community.
Speaker 2:We are working on getting a safe haven baby box at Fire Station no 1 in Malvern on Moline Street and we are going to dedicate it to Christian Pennington.
Speaker 1:You know I didn't ask you this earlier, but was there a reason why the name Christian?
Speaker 2:So as we were driving back from Colorado, we were thinking, okay, what, what could we name him?
Speaker 2:Something like outdoorsy, because we had been hiking, and stuff like river or bear or something, and we were really brainstorming names, I don't know but we made that first call to check on him and the nurse there was talking to someone else and in the background she said, hey, can you get me Christian's paperwork? And we both looked at each other and we were like this, is it? That's his name, christian. So the nurses actually named him. He had a code name. In the hospital. They give them the code names, but they had nicknamed him Christian and we both knew that that was meant to be. His name was meant to be Christian.
Speaker 1:Now, did birth mom leave anything with him, a note or anything? No, no, okay, okay. So the box that you guys are working on for your community is going to be placed in memory of Christian. Is going to be placed in memory of Christian and remind me which fire station it's fire station number one One okay. Yeah, so fire station number one in Malvern. I always, I can't. It's like I say that word and. I'm like Malvern.
Speaker 2:We say Malvern, I think I say Malvern, malvern, yeah, but different people pronounce it different ways Malvern. Even within Malvern, we say Malvern, I think I say Malvern, malvern, yeah, but different people pronounce it different ways, even within Malvern.
Speaker 1:So you guys are now raising money for this box for Malvern, to have a box in the community in Christian's name, and you guys I think the funds have pretty much been raised for this in a very short amount of time because of Christian, and he's definitely made a mark, obviously, on this community Now that you can share his story, you know, because for so long he was not I mean, you hadn't adopted him yet I always hate that that you can't, you know, share that exciting part of your lives when you take in a child prior to the adoption being finalized. I understand it, but I just wish it was different so you guys could celebrate more. So are you guys friends with the fire chief?
Speaker 2:I know of him, but I don't know him personally.
Speaker 1:Have you met him?
Speaker 2:I think I've met him before.
Speaker 1:He's going to love you guys Like.
Speaker 2:I think highly of him, very, very highly of him, just through this process and getting to know him through other people, I, I, I think very highly of him. I'm just so excited.
Speaker 1:Uh, this is going to be. This is. I'm definitely coming back for this one because, I try to do all the blessings you know that I can but we hit like blessing 200, like the 200th box, and it's like I can't do this by myself anymore.
Speaker 1:You know, it's like I'm tired, I'm 52 years old. I just it's like come on now, and so I try to get to as many of them as I can, but I have a team now behind me that that goes to them. But I am definitely coming back for this one, like I am not missing this one. I'll have to make sure jesse puts that on my calendar like three weeks out, so nobody messes it up but um, but hopefully by the end of the year we'll have a box here in malvern that this is, this is exciting it's
Speaker 1:very exciting. So people that want to donate, they can go to um our website and donate and in the memo section put Malvern Arkansas. That will earmark any funds for this location. Because as a 501c3 we can't just spend money for anything. We have to spend money people's money on what they wanted it for, and so if they put Malvern Arkansas, it has to be spent in this community, whether it be education, billboards or boxes and stuff like that. And so if someone's out there that they want to donate, they can. They just need to put that in the memo section. But this is exciting. This is exciting and this is kind of coming full circle with Christian.
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1:I mean it's perfect being placed in a box and then dedicating a box to his name. This is just amazing.
Speaker 2:To his legacy, his story, his everything. I mean all the way through from his being a safe haven baby, having a rare disorder, being able to be adopted and just all the. His life was amazing and he was only 11 months old. He couldn't talk, he couldn't voice things or even show his emotions, but his little life has affected so many people and it's going to continue to affect people, and that makes me so happy.
Speaker 1:So are you guys looking to adopt again?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, yeah. So we're an open adoptive home still and we've had two foster babies, but we are an open adoptive home as well.
Speaker 1:Well, I think Christ chose a pretty amazing couple to take on this, this job of loving him and raising him and getting him back to Christ, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I picture him in heaven like running and walking and just as a. I picture him as a toddler and being able to run to Jesus when I think about him and what he's doing in heaven. That's how I picture him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, gosh, he doesn't even know the impact he's made down here.
Speaker 1:It's just amazing. Well, thank you for sharing your story with us and thank you for allowing me into your space of. I know this isn't easy. I've been sitting here with tears in my eyes for the last like I don't even know how long, and it's like I've done pretty good at holding it in, because usually I'm a hot mess, um. But thank you for opening your hearts and and your story and your son's life, um to share it with us yeah, thank you for allowing us to share his story and get his name and story out there it's an honor, Thank you.
Speaker 1:This is Monica Kelsey from Beyond the Box in Malvern, Arkansas. Thank you guys so much for joining us. We will be back in two weeks on Beyond the Box with Monica Kelsey and if you would like to support the Malvern Arkansas Baby Box, just go to our website and in the memo section of the donation page, on your donation, put for Malvern Fire Department in Arkansas and we'll make sure that your money goes to this project. God bless you guys. We'll see you guys next time.