Something happened last weekend that I am still a little
emotional about but it was so incredible – so beautiful. A moment that showed
healing, peace and trust, all at once.
On Saturday, the kids’ therapist cancelled so we decided to
have the house fumigated so we needed to leave for a few hours. What to do?
Let’s go do swimming lessons!
Of course the kids were pumped that we had an outing that
wasn’t planned months in advance, but it just felt like the right thing to do.
So we loaded up, swimsuits and towels at hand, and we splashed into the pool
with life jackets and plenty of energy.
Milenea is really short and small – picture a 5 year old and
that’s about Milenea’s stature. She will be 9 in February but she has suffered
some serious emotional and physical set backs in life, and she simply needs
lots of time and consistency to recover.
Because of her tiny stature, Milenea always needs someone in
the pool with her if she comes off the steps. So I held her, we got in and we
started working to warm up as the water was COLD. We splashed and practiced
paddling and kicking our feet. And then, she was done. She didn’t want to swim
anymore and she just wanted to get out.
Some of our kiddos have been through some horrific stuff –
Ali was SEVERLY neglected as a baby – like rarely fed and hardly touched or
held, and Milenea had an even more traumatic first few years of life, so I
never try to push them too hard. I don’t want to trigger any of that trauma and
I certainly don’t want to make it worse – the first rule of social work is DO
NO HARM, after all!
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| Milenea taking a nap with Papa |
Phil was holding Jojo and she was having a great time. They
were playing together and laughing. Phil handed Jojo to me to play in the water
and Milenea sat in the chair next to Phil.
A few minutes later, Milenea was asking Phil a question but
she was speaking so softly he couldn’t hear her. He whispered for her to say it
again and she did. This time he got the message. She asked him if she could sit
with him because she wanted to sleep.
His eyes got wide and he didn’t quite know what to say. He
just looked at me. I nodded to him to pick her up – it’s the first time she’s
ever asked anything of either of us so it seemed like a pivotal moment.
Phil picked her up and her tiny body fit so sweetly in his
left arm. She closed her eyes and slipped off for about 20 minutes. She didn’t
move. She didn’t open her eyes once. She cozied up on his left side and passed
out.
As I recall this moment from yesterday, I’m moved to tears
once again. Her sweet, innocent little eyes hold so much pain that we may never
know or understand, but that moment was so precious.
She chose to trust Phil – she needed to rest, wanted the
comfort of someone’s arms, and finally ASKED for what she wanted. This is a
huge first step for her.
This moment made every ounce of stress and frustration (I
had built up from the last few weeks) completely melt away. I let a few drops
fall from my eyes but I didn’t want anyone to see me cry.
I quickly went back to entertaining my feisty little girl
and the rest of the day felt magical. I felt like we were floating on a cloud.
All seemed right in the world – it seemed like we were exactly in the right
place, even if just for a few moments.
This moment was brought to you by – YOU. Generous, loving
and kind people like you GIVE so we can be here, caring for kids like Milenea.
Thank you for making this moment happen. We can’t continue
without you.
Hugs,
Laura
