a pillow

dear little leah, 

sunday was a sad day of goodbyes for us. most especially because we all had to say goodbye to your special helper, sister z. you sure love sister z and she seems to truly love you. 

so much, in fact, that she wrote about you on her own blog and made you this beautiful pillow. hand stitched and sewn with care, perfect for your new bed. she brought it by today with the sweetest card that brought tears of gratitude to my eyes {okay, they spilled onto my cheeks...}

dear leah, i want you to know how grateful i am to be a small part of your life this year. you are a very special little girl and i will miss seeing you each sunday. when you arrive at your new house, could you ask your mother to place this little pillow on your bed? perhaps when you are having a particularly rough day or night this soft pillow can provide you with some comfort to know that you are a child of our heavenly father and he loves you more than there are stars in the sky or sand at the seashore. i am ever so thankful for the twinkling light you have brought into my life. hugs and kisses. love, sister z.

i know. the waterworks are going to start again. sister z always came prepared with a bag full of treats and surprises for your two hours with her. she was constantly asking questions to better understand you and to be better able to serve you. she also answered my email about the spotlight on you. these are her sweet words:

"First of all, please let the lucky person who is called to be Leah's buddy teacher know that they will be blessed beyond measure.  It was such  a joy to take Leah's little hand in mine each Sunday and feel her sweet spirit.  I remember worrying that first Sunday in January whether Leah would like me...well that worry left seconds after we went into opening exercises.  It was magical.

"I 'd like to relay a conversation I had a couple of months ago with one of the little girls from the other Sunbeam class (they had joined our class because their teacher didn't show up).  Out of the blue  during class, one curious little girl  asked me, "Why can't she talk?" I replied, "Well, Leah has a disease called Rett Syndrome. You and I cannot catch this disease like you can catch a cold from someone else,  It caused Leah to lose the ability to speak with words or use her hands. Have you ever been sick where your mommy or daddy took you to the doctor and the doctor gave you some medicine which made you all better?  Well, Leah goes to the doctor but they don't have any medicine which would make her better. She is very smart and she understands everything you say. The thing is, she can't talk with words but she can talk with her "eyes".  The little girl's eyes got big and asked, "How does she "talk" with her eyes?" I replied,  "She "talks"  with her eyes this way.  Let's say we were going to choose a movie to watch, I would hold up two movies and ask her which one, Movie A or Movie B...and she would tell me by looking directly to the movie she'd like."  She then asked, "What are those things on her arms?"  I replied, "Those are braces that keep her hands away from her mouth.  Children with this disease like to put their hands in their mouth.  Though, they can't feed themselves or pick up a crayon to draw or a ball to throw.  Some kids can't walk but Leah can...she can even run!  Leah gives the biggest smiles and laughs a lot..which means she is one happy little girl.

"I want you to know how grateful I am for...the opportunity I had to be a small spoke in Leah's wheel of life."

i love you, little leah. it's pretty obvious it's easy to do. 

love, 

mommy