We were told when she was born not to bring her back to the hospital because there was nothing they could do for her. We were told as she reached the age of a toddler that she might not live to start kindergarten. Against all odds, she did start kindergarten. Not only did she start kindergarten she will be finishing high school this year! She has persevered & taught me more than I could have ever imagined.
Her speech therapists all were very impressed at how well she compensated for her speech problems despite structural abnormalities. She made sure she was understood & worked very hard.
Her physical therapists were all very impressed at how well she could accomplish the tasks she needed to despite any physical limitations.
She surprised us as parents as well as her teachers when we would get complaints in her grades & concerns that she wasn't learning the material needed & out of the blue she would prove us all wrong over & over again by showing us that she did understand the material, she just processed it differently than we did.
She has taught me to have faith, hope and perseverance. She has taught me to believe in the impossible.
She has been a pioneer for others with Antley-Bixler syndrome as well as doctors as she has allowed medical doctors to do research on her so that they might learn more about her syndrome so others don't have to go through what she has been through and to allow others to know what to expect & look for with this syndrome. This has meant being used as a pin cushion at times, allowing students to assist in her medical care for their education & just allowing the doctors to do whatever was necessary to care for her & to educate others.
I cried the day she was born not knowing what we could expect from her life & being scared about the unexpected. I know this year when she graduates I will be crying because she has beaten all odds!!
You can't learn the life lessons she has taught us by education. I've never known anyone in my lifetime that has stayed as true to themselves as this young lady. She pays no attention to what others might say about her or how they might treat her. She treats others kindly & with respect no matter what. She doesn't involve herself in teenage drama & instead is quiet & only observes the behavior of others. If you know her well, you can detect in her facial expressions when she is concerned by someone's behavior, upset by their behavior or clearly thinks the person has no clue. You can detect if she's bored. However, if you say something positive or funny she will definitely respond with a smile or a good amount of laughter. She will also let you know very loudly when you have gone too far & made her mad :)
If only we as a society would learn to accomplish what she has done her whole life.....listen with BOTH ears, keep our mouths SHUT unless necessary, ALWAYS showed compassion to others & knew the value of "if you can't say something nice, keep your mouth shut".
Don't get me wrong, we as parents & her brother as well have taught her a few things ourselves & I don't know that I will ever stop being scared every time a new medical issue arises with her but to quote Joyce Meyer ~ "We may not be where we need to be but at least we're not where we used to be".
I hope everyone has a great school year & learns some life lessons from their children while their children are learning how to live life :)
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