He wants his hospital room to look like Christmas.

Owen is five and a half years old. In two weeks he will be in the cardiac operating room for his fourth open-heart surgery—his seventh surgery overall. He has not had a major operation since he was a year and a half old. As the date draws closer, his mother’s emotions grow heavier with the waiting, the what-ifs, the memory of medical trauma, the financial strain, and the reality of a family temporarily split apart.

She says it feels slightly overwhelming, yet she knows they will get through it.

Yesterday Owen told her he wants to decorate his hospital room like Christmas. The family is going to do exactly that. He loves Christmas, and they plan to watch Christmas movies while his heart recovers.

In recent days people have reached out with support and encouraging words. His mother says that support means a great deal and will help carry them through.

Two weeks remain. A five-and-a-half-year-old who has already undergone six previous procedures is preparing for another open-heart surgery, and he has chosen to meet it with Christmas lights and familiar movies. The family holds to the same determination his mother expressed: they will get through it. The days ahead will test them, yet the room will be ready the way Owen asked.