| I'm not one of those motivational writers who can lift | | | | The first is her heart to help others. She is an |
| you up so high you have to look down to see heaven. | | | | employers dream in that regard. She isn't a leader but |
| No, I'm more the practical one. You know, the one who | | | | once she's learned the task at hand she'll work really |
| has scars from all the battles, yet has lived to tell about | | | | hard helping those who are. She has a job doing |
| them. | | | | customer service by bagging groceries in a grocery |
| There are countless stories about the power of | | | | store. She always does the little extra things for |
| perseverance and the victory that comes through the | | | | people that she thinks are struggling. The elderly |
| pain. And I wish I could already be at the top of that | | | | always look for Amanda because they know she'll |
| mountain with my arms raised, looking down and | | | | treat them special. |
| marveling at the obstacles that I've overcome. But | | | | She's always had a special place in her heart for |
| finding myself somewhere along the side of that | | | | people in wheel chairs. Since she was in grade school, |
| mountain, still climbing, there has to be some merit in at | | | | she just naturally took a shine to them and she can |
| least thinking I SEE the top! | | | | always be seen pushing people in wheelchairs. |
| We are the parents of a special needs young adult. | | | | Amanda's second gift is her ability to persevere. |
| Our daughter is 23 now, and the perseverance in her | | | | Because she's different, she was teased and bullied in |
| is truly something to marvel. | | | | school. And I have to say it definitely took a toll on her |
| Amanda was born 3 months early, at 1 1b, 7 oz. This | | | | self esteem. Of course we stepped in and helped all |
| was our first child, and I was only 6 months along, so | | | | we could, but she just persevered and kept moving |
| the thought that I could be going into labor at this early | | | | forward. |
| stage didn't even occur to me. But after 3 days of | | | | When our local college told her she wouldn't be able to |
| labor we were the parents of this tiny little person that | | | | attend because she couldn't meet the basic admission |
| was about to change our world more than we could | | | | academic standards, she was heartbroken. But she |
| ever imagine. | | | | wanted to get some kind of training, wherever she had |
| As Amanda grew slowly, the medical problems began. | | | | to go. She attended a Job Corps facility in our state |
| I remember getting calls from the hospital telling us to | | | | and even though she went through some VERY hard |
| come right away. I remember countless surgeries and | | | | times there, she received her certificate in spite of |
| infections, and then came the heart stopping prognosis | | | | them. |
| from the doctors. They said Amanda would be legally | | | | Amanda's life dream is to become a nun, so living on |
| blind, possibly deaf, and would likely have cerebral | | | | her own is her first step. She recently moved out of |
| palsy. This was certainly not what we had planned and | | | | our home because she wants to try living in her own |
| we had no clue about how to even deal with this kind | | | | apartment. She knows that she has more obstacles to |
| of news. | | | | overcome as she works toward her goal. Many |
| When we finally took her home at a whopping 4 lb, 4 | | | | communities won't accept somebody with special |
| oz, I dressed her in cabbage patch clothes because | | | | needs so she's determined to show them that she has |
| they were the smallest clothes I could find. And yeah, | | | | lots of gifts to offer if they'll just give her a chance. |
| she was cute. | | | | Remember when I said I'm somewhere on the side of |
| About a month after she was home, we noticed that | | | | the mountain trying to see the top? It's not easy to |
| she was able to follow us with her eyes. The doctors | | | | watch your special needs child struggle through life. I've |
| couldn't explain it because the part of her brain that | | | | felt every hurt, every disappointment, and even anger |
| controls her sight is gone. But she sees anyway. And | | | | toward every person who has let our little girl down. |
| she walks and hears normally too. | | | | Having to pick up your child when they fall and keep |
| Of course, that's not to say that Amanda hasn't had | | | | them going is something every parent faces. But |
| her fair share of medical problems, learning roadblocks, | | | | picking up a special needs child just to send them back |
| and mental delays. But amidst all those things she's | | | | out into a less than friendly world is the hardest thing |
| been graced with two gifts. | | | | we've ever done. |