Around this time every year, Nature
celebrates the coming of spring. Flowers
and shrubs begin to erupt slowly. As winter bids its farewell, I see the new
greenery mixed with a rainbow of spring colors emerging everywhere and adorning
God’s beautiful earth. New life starts peaking gradually, enveloping us with
its glory and promising us the wonders that God has created.
Spring brings the birth of many things, among
them, my special needs daughter, Alexandra.
It has been fifteen years since my child entered the world so
unexpectedly thirteen weeks too soon. She came, but a mere, twelve ounces in weight
and eight inches in length. In spite of this, though, she arrived kicking her
legs and arms just as any other new born would. She was claiming this world as
her own. I can almost hear her stating: “look out world for here I come”.
For the past five years, since Alex’s tenth
birthday to be exact, I had taken it upon myself to write a birthday post for her.
It is my way of honoring my daughter for what she has had to endure during the
first years of her life. It is my way of celebrating her and thanking God for
her existence. It is my way of trying to make right what
obviously went wrong during a pregnancy that I thought was fine. After all, a mother’s first job is to ensure
her child’s safety and happiness and I had so desperately wanted that to be
true for us, on that day, Fifteen years ago. It is my way of erasing the scars that are
still visible on my daughter’s skin and will forever be etched in my heart and
mind.
It has been an interesting year. A
transitional year in so many ways. Alexandra entered her first year of high
school. This change has been harder on
me than on her. She seems to adjust well and thrive on social skills that took
so many years to develop. She will be participating in her first school dance
three days after her birthday. To other mothers, this may be just a normal
activity during the teen years. For me, however, this is a giant step. I am almost tempted to contact her NICU
nurses and inform them of this event. They will surely share this joy with me.
To even imagine that the NICU’s smallest surviving infant and longest resident
will be going to a school dance is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. I will have
to quote my sister’s favorite recent saying: “God is so Faithful”.
Our lives have changed to a better and stable
existence the past few years. Each new “medically- stable” day brings better
promises and a chance for a brighter future. In spite of the still lingering special needs challenges we face daily, we are now able to participate in
more normal activities such as attending full time school, shopping or visiting
relatives. It has taken strong faith and many years of therapies, care and love
to bring Alexandra to this point. The path was hard, but the outcome is worth
it.
These “medically-stable” years have allowed
Alexandra’s funny personality to slowly emerge. She is now given a chance to
show her true character and build those habits that are a part of any growing
child. Among her favorite habits is a
serious wave that she uses to greet whomever she comes across. As a matter of fact, her favorite pass time
is to make the rounds in school waving a greeting to anyone in sight. It is truly a delight to watch Alexandra
greeting teachers and staff as she wonders about her day. A few years ago, she
developed and perfected this wave that has become a big part of who Alex
is. It is this signature wave that has earned
her the title of “Home Coming Queen”.
I am blessed to see this wave every day. It
brightens my heart when she uses it as I drop her off to school in the morning
and when I pick her up at the end of the day. A simple gesture, yet so
powerful. A true Royal wave, for
Alexandra has fought and earned this royalty every step of the way. A true Seal-of-Faith wave, for God’s faithfulness has made all this possible..
Happy Fifteenth birthday “Home Coming
Queen!”….
© Copyright
2013 .Najwa S. Hirn. All rights reserved
