A Mid-State woman has been sharing her story about the joys and challenges of raising her son who was born with a rare birth defect.
Lacey Buchanan spent part of her Mother's Day weekend laughing and hugging her six-year-old son, Christian.
"What do you call a sleeping dinosaur?" He asks his mom who has heard the joke an endless amount of times.
"I don't know Christian, what?" she answered.
"A dino-snore," he laughs.
Christian was born with a rare form of cleft lip and palate called Tessier cleft lip and palate, classifications 3, 4, 5.
He is completely blind.
"It's kind of hard to get numbers on it honestly. It's so rare, we've been told there are less than 50 or 60 documented cases ever," Buchanan said.
She said accepting his birth defect was difficult at first for herself and husband, Chris.
"We were grieving the loss of a typical child, typical birth, typical pregnancy, and I think we had some grieving to do," she said.
During the early years of Christian's life, Lacey said she would get several stares from people in public and online.
"I posted an innocent picture on Facebook of Christian one day, and an acquaintance actually messaged me and told me how selfish I was for not having aborted him saying 'Look how miserable he was, look how pathetic of a life he was going to live' and it floored me because I knew that Christian was loved," she said.
But through prayer and support from her family and community, Lacey and her husband moved past the heartache.
"People are surprised about how happy we are with the situation we've been given, but there's so much joy in it. We purposely find the joy in it. There's a lot to be thankful for," she smiled.
One of the joys the family encounters is during Christian's weekly karate classes.
"His instructor has figured out creative ways to teach Christian the moves that he has to learn. He's already earned one belt and a tip on his second belt. So he's getting his next belt soon," he said.
Buchanan travels the country sharing her story about her love for her son.
On Sunday, she spoke at a church sharing her journey about her son. She recently received The Mother of the Year award from the Tennessee Justice Center.
"I get to be the lucky person who gets to be his mom. I am blessed to watch him grow and be the one he calls mama," she said.
Part of her message to people - love is blind. You can read more about Lacey and Christian's story by clicking here.
