If you see this text and no other graphics or links …  then your browser does not support this site … please log into Microsoft Internet Explorer and come back to this URL to view this site with graphics and links.

Anthony Emmanuel Arritola

Co-Founder of Emmanuel’s Foundation

 

This is a synopsis of our journey that led us to meet the many survivors who were advised to abort, give up or feel the stigma of having a special needs child.  Our story, our own journey, is a testament to allowing natural life from beginning to end and the many benefits in recognizing life's greatest lessons by observing our own most fragile situations.  Emmanuels Foundation is a source for families based on needs we did not readily or easily come across but eventually were able to identify in our neediest times.  We hope to aid other families in difficult situations find the resources they need to endure, cope with and survive the turbulence a difficult journey may bring. 

 

Here is our story:

Before our son was born, a Eulogy was pre-written for his gestation by the ones who make rules for this Earthly life.  His history of life was predetermined by some, to be unworthy of surviving a life that would amount to anything.  Before his birth, we were given this outcome for his life:

 

“Your pregnancy will not come to fruition so you are allowed to take control to ensure that it will not interrupt your earthly life.  If born, it will not be able to sustain its own life outside the womb so it is OK if you choose not to feed it and let it die.  It will not get hungry nor want.  It will not have the mental ability to do many things, it may only grow with the increased probability that it will not survive and you will be devastated –so it is OK to refuse any surgical or medical intervention because this will only give you false hope.”

 

Naturally, we mourned the loss of our infant son upon learning this news.   So when did we snap out of it?  I’m not sure we did.  Our human desires for our future, our expectations for our family and our children’s hopes of growing and playing in love with their littlest brother were torn down with no hope of recovery.  All because of that pre-written eulogy.

 

Thankfully, we have been taught to teach our children in the moral law taught to us by our faith and our fathers … all have the right to life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness.   We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

 

This is where Anthony’s story picks up.  His is a story of more than just standing up for rights.  His is a story of more than just life, but of the dignity of man and the reverence we have towards God for allowing our bodies to be earthen hosts of our Creators heavenly Spirit.

 

Anthony’s life is a testimony sent to test the minds and hearts of men.  God remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.

 

But in his short 11 month period of time from birth to death … Anthony survived and he lived abundantly.  Anthony shared a gift with our family that allowed us to be surrounded by grace.  He helped re-center our family and restored the brokenness in our family.  He healed his brothers of unseen inner pains; he helped us learn more about how to love.

 

~Sam Keen says,

"We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly"

 

And all too soon we came to the end of his very short life, a moment that proved to the medical community that Anthony did not survive.  But I testify Anthony did live a life that amounted to something.  Against the expectations of the larger medical community, Anthony perplexed even the most learned of the specialists.  He did not fit into any textbook, he wrote his own story, all atypical of expectations and all simply quite amazing.  He was a strong man for having such a frail body.  We found many others who survived beyond expectations and lived a life of abundance as well.  We learned of their commonalities and we want to share with families around the world the reality of coping with these situations can be grasped and with meaning beyond measure. 

 

The support our family received from community members has been very much appreciated and certainly played a large part of helping us to cope emotionally and not feel isolated in our goal to be good parents to our “different” child.  In addition to sharing our story with our closest friends and family, … Anthony’s life story sprang amazingly out into the world and only God truly knows how many have been touched.  Strangers from around the world contact us to tell us how our Anthony has influenced their lives and we are simply humbled and amazed.  We are blessed to have been encouraged along our journey by so many faith filled people.  I can say with confidence that the grace flowing through our loving community has carried us along a journey from crushing grief and sorrow to feelings of joy and a calm reality.

 

 

If you have any of these feelings along your journey, know you are not alone!  There are people here to help who understand.