Monday, June 13, 2011

The Heart of an Older Sister...


I was sitting at the kitchen table torturing Leighanna because of her teen-a-tude. Believe me when I tell you... I am a pro at torturing her. During the conversation she asked "why is it okay for Justin to get C's on his report card and not me?

Oh hell, here we go!!!

This is a hard enough thing to justify as a parent. I can only imagine there is no excuse in the world good enough for an eleven year old girl.

My answer to her was this... "you and Justin are two different kids. You are capable of straight A's yet I didn't get upset about that B you brought home.

Your brother has always struggled with writing(Justin is capable of writing. He has a vivid imagination and beautiful penmanship... he just hates to do it. We have always felt that his mind runs 500 miles per hour and his hand only writes one... therefore he gets frustrated and shuts down. So when I say "struggle... this is what I mean). Besides, Justin has a lot more to deal with at school. He misses a lot of information because of the seizures, he is at the nurse a minimum of two times a day and that causes him to miss stuff too. On top of it... he is in gifted classes. I am sure you would prefer me expecting good grades from you rather than dealing with the challenges that Justin has to face everyday.

Then it happens. Those beautiful blue eyes of hers fill up with tears and she broke my heart with the words I often say myself... "why does all the bad stuff always happen to Justin? Why couldn't it have happened to me instead?"

Through teary eyes of my own all I could really say is that I wouldn't want it to. I told her that I wish it could have been me. I told her that I love how much she wishes better for her little brother, but he is okay. He is happy and healthy and he can handle this.

Maybe this is something I should be telling myself.




12 comments:

Unknown said...

She is wonderful Lora. I just wanna hug her.

Michelle said...

What a beautiful heart she has Lora! My little one has made me think lately about the impact of D on our other children. Mine has an amazing heart too and even though she's only 4 years old I can see that she would take the burden from her sister in a heart beat. Hugs to you both!!!

The DL said...

WOW! She has such a big heart! You should be proud :)

Amy Lederer said...

Beautiful. Weeping . . . really. I wanna hug her too. Maybe she and Ethan, my 11-year-old should meet who has a heart like hers for his little brother. Ahhh, what a proud momma you must be! And, yes, you should be telling yourself that . . . he has a great momma to keep him happy and healthy. Love and KUDDOS to you, d-momma friend!

Alexis Nicole said...

Im crying! Love her!

AjsMommy82 said...

She's such a sweetheart!! Our d kiddos are so strong and totally up for the challenge!

Meri said...

She has a beautiful heart, just like her mother.

I just want to hug her...and her mother too. <3

Unknown said...

Bless your sweet Leighanna...such a tender heart.

The "other children" are always watching...sitting in the shadows of D, and ready to take it on for themselves.

Love her.

Love you.

Heidi / D-Tales said...

Oh, sweet, Leighanna!!! How lucky Justin is to have her for a sister...even if she has "teen-a-tude." We're facing the same "tude" here. :)

Denise aka Mom of Bean said...

What an amazing young lady! Warms my heart to no end the way the D-sibs love their sibs on a totally different level.

Heather said...

What a wonderful girl you have there! It's amazing how much our kids can teach us.

Holly said...

What a sweet heart she has! : ) Wish we could all take a turn for them. Oh, to give them a day off D.

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