An Angel Among Us

Yesterday during church my husband Dan told me that there were some visitors that had a daughter that reminded him of my sister Elizabeth. As soon as I saw who he was referring to, I quickly made my way over to introduce myself and to find out about their handicapped daughter.

You see, my sister Elizabeth is severely retarded with grand mall seizures. Despite being 42 years old, her physical/mental capacity is that of an 18 month old. Many people have asked me if that was hard having a handicapped sister or if I ever resented her or felt like the other siblings were forgotten. My answer is a big fat NO!!!! I quickly will tell any inquirer that Elizabeth is the glue that holds the family together. After all, she is an angel.

I was one of the older siblings (3rd of 7), so I remember my sister as a little girl. She loved going for walks, staying outside all day eating dirt if we let her, singing "Go away little girl" over and over, making loud sounds and clapping/rubbing her hands together. She took a special needs bus to school while the rest of us walked (uphill both ways). She learned how to put large toy pegs into holes while we were learning reading, writing and arithmetic. In fact, one Christmas someone made her her very own gingerbread house and we couldn't have any!!! Resentment? No!!! Could have been, but my parents taught us about service, tolerance and love for all of God's children. And we had opportunities to learn those things on a daily basis in our home.

I cannot imagine the work it has taken my parents. They are 73 and 80 years old and still taking care of my sister inside of their home. What love! What dedication! What service! There is a special place reserved in heaven for my parents. I feel that that special place is somewhere close to where my angel sister will be.

So imagine the special gift it was to have a flood of sweet memories and tender feelings come back to me yesterday at church. This young girl is also an angel and her noises/outbursts were heavenly sounds. After all, we were in the presence of another angel.

In our house we love to share

Teaching a child the concept of sharing can be a long, hard and sometimes painful task. When I was teaching the Nursery age children (18mo-3yr) at church, I read some material that helps the teacher understand little kid development. It mentioned that most 18mo-3yr olds do not understand the concept of sharing but it was the perfect time to teach them what sharing is. I understand the little mind - "It's all about me!!!!". There have been many times I have thought that older kids don't get this concept either. I was wrong.

Now it seems that we have mastered the "sharing thing" quite well in our home, especially over the last few days. Sunday afternoon, with no warning at all, Ada decided to get the stomach flu. She is such a wonderful sister that she decided to share this lovely package of germs to her younger siblings. Yep - yesterday Travis, Abby & Elyssa joined the"barf bucket, candy canes, 7-up and saltine cracker club".

It's odd because I thought that if your kids learn to share my life was supposed to get easier. Ha! I have made countless trips up and down the stairs to restock "barf center" supplies and to keep the laundry going. Plus, trying to de-germify the house. My hands are raw.

Best part - if there really was one - is being home and loving on my kids while they are sick. It is yet another realization on how much I love being a mom and taking care of my kids. So, thanks Ada for sharing this with the family. We'll get better soon and life will be back to it's crazy normal, but I will enjoy this mom moment while I have it.