What Hope Looks Like

My girls. They are hope. 2 years ago I could not ever have imagined a night like tonight. Tonight is nothing special but at the same time it is everything special. Look at Anna. She is eating dinner. She is eating it by mouth. She is smiling about it and enjoying it and even asking for ice cream after her hamburger. She is in a leotard because she has just finished with ballet and tap for this week. Then look at Carly. She too is smiling and doesn't have a care in the world (except whether or not she is going to get ice cream). So what makes tonight so special you ask? It is special because we are finally just ordinary people going about our ordinary day. My child who was having seizures and not talking and not eating and never sleeping and having trouble walking is now eating and not seizing and even in dance. My child who was afraid of her own shadow is now looking at life in a whole new light. And then after this extraordinarily ordinary day we will go home and both girls will climb into their own beds in their own room and sleep all night long. There was a time when I couldn't see past the cerebral palsy, failure to thrive, epilepsy, g button, sleepless nights, anxiety disorder... Now when I look at these kids all I see is hope for the future because I know we can overcome anything. My prayer is that if you are now where I was then that you can look at us and know that things will eventually work themselves out and you too will one day look up and realize that you have forgotten the all the diagnoses and just become people again. This is what hope looks like...