Dimon Kendrick-Holmes: Hamby twins a heavy story for the holidays

The other day I was reading a story on our website and noticed an advertisement on the screen. It was for Subaru's "Share the Love" sales event, and featured a heart inside an outstretched hand, with a backdrop of snowflakes, stars and rays of light.

Subconsciously, I compared it to those obnoxious Lexus ads, where somebody leads a family member out the front door of their mansion and surprises them with a shiny Lexus topped with a giant bow.

I like the Subaru ad much better. It's warm and simple and vaguely spiritual.

Kind of like the holidays.

But the story I was reading on the screen was about the memorial service for the conjoined Hamby twins, who died of heart complications 34 hours after their birth.

During the service, the babies' father, Michael Hamby, asked this question: "Why did God send two beautiful angels like this, joined like they are, with one heart?"

The question is heavy.

In fact, the entire Hamby story is heavy, and it has been from the beginning.

In September, our community learned that Robin Hamby was carrying conjoined male twins sharing a heart, that the odds were stacked against their survival, and that the parents had decided to continue with the pregnancy.

The public reaction was overwhelmingly positive and supportive. Everybody seemed to agree that Robin and Michael Hamby were good, incredibly brave people of great faith.

At the same time, their story made us ask ourselves if we would and could have made the same decision.

Gauging from the reaction in coffee shops and around water coolers, the answer was a resounding no.

The Hamby's story made us think about what we believe, how we'd actually react to certain situations, and whether our beliefs would be consistent with our actions.

At the least, it made for some interesting discussions.

And then last week, the twins were born, and the discussions got even more interesting.

While the family was celebrating in the hospital and people were posting congratulations on social media, a friend of mine pointed out that the twins were probably going to die.

"But can't we just enjoy the moment?" I asked.

"I'm just saying they're going to die," he said.

"We're all going to die," I said.

Merry Christmas!

But this story made us think. After the twins died, the community rushed again to social media to offer prayers and condolences.

They didn't ask the questions that will linger: What did this all mean? And why did God allow this to happen?

On Thursday, Michael Hamby gave his answer to the question: "Well, to soften your heart, of course, to open your eyes up, because he's not happy with the way we're treating our brothers. You look in the news: People fighting in Missouri, people fighting overseas. He's not happy with us. So the only way to show everyone is to send a symbol to soften your hearts."

I read that quote and then I looked up at the vaguely spiritual Subaru advertisement.

There's nothing vaguely spiritual about Michael and Robin Hamby. They know exactly what they believe. Their story is heavy, and the gospel they believe is heavy. The other birth they're celebrating this month produced a baby they believe was crucified for the sins of the world.

Not everybody buys this, of course. Take "Anna Morphic," a Facebook user who says she's a 60-year-old female from West Hollywood. After the twins died, she left these comments on Mark Rice's September story about the pregnancy.

"Well guess what," she wrote, "your prayers didn't work! They died, because there IS no "God" and any God would have been cruel to put anybody through such a life in the first place."

Instead of validated, most folks in our community feel deeply saddened and even grieved by the death of the twins, regardless of our personal beliefs.

"As sad as this story is," commented Becky Langston, "the Hambys did, in my opinion, the right thing. May God continue to bless this family."

"I'm not even religious," responded Pearl Wong, "and I agree with you."

Heavy.

Contact Dimon Kendrick-Holmes, executive editor, at dkholmes@ledger-enquirer.com

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Dimon Kendrick-Holmes: Hamby twins a heavy story for the holidays."