There are so many things, so many lessons to learn from Aiyana's life. She was absolutely herself without apology. Who among us can that about ourselves after all this time?
I remember last Christmas we came into the house which had been transformed into a busy happy mess of strewn wrapping and bows and packaging. We made our way through the greetings, which in this family takes a while, especially with the hide and seek search for the kids on Wii, playing in the bedrooms, listening to music online or strewn around the yards running off the day's excitement. All day long you listen to the door: open, shut, open, shut, as everyone loops through the kitchen to grab something off a plate.
Aiyana was first in line for her present, a game my sons played when they were young. We were still holding Ava's gift ten minutes later and she eyed it and offered to give it to her. Ten or so minutes after that Ava's gift was found behind the chair sitting in a puddle of ripped ribbon and torn paper.
I didn't react or know what to do. Surely her little sister wouldn't get the pleasure of opening her gift, and I thought she might cry. But her grandfather looked down at the girls with his most loving face and gently to Aiyana said, 'I just love you' and handed the gift to Ava with a hug.
Ava looked up into my face and with that I grabbed the girls and the game and we made a place in their room for play. Over the next hour we played it over and over, and Gav joined in and Summer, too. The children didn't dwell on who opened what, as most children might. They had already learned what mattered most was on the inside.
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A JOURNEY OF HOPE, LOVE, SPIRIT AND TRIUMPH
Purple Butterfly
Please click on to listen as you read (Return to Pooh Corner by Kenny Loggins)
Ribbons of Hope
YanaBug
Hercules
Grandma Faye and Yana
Yana's Life Miracle, as told by her big sister
I wanted to share a little bit of Aiyana's life with all of you so you understand why she is our family miracle.
March 6, 2001, Aiyana came into our lives. At one point during our Mom's pregnancy it looked like might be carrying twins. We all expected a very big baby ... and she was perfect with her dark brown curly hair and big brown eyes that were full of love, wonder and happiness. She overwhelmed our lives with joy.
She brought something out in all of us. I had been a big sister 3 times already but there was something different with her. It wasn't that I didn't love my brothers or sister, but I just wanted to be Aiyana's mommy, too.
Aiyana started to crawl and was getting very good at playing with stuff, but we noticed she didn't crawl like the rest of us: she would scoot on her bottom always on one side. Mom and Dad also noticed she wasn't utilizing her right hand when she played and it was in a tight fist. Right before her first birthday, our parents took her to the doctor and they did some tests and a catscan and discovered that more than half of the left hemisphere of her brain was empty space that had never developed. The doctors think that while she was growing in the womb Aiyana developed a blood clot that led to a massive stroke while her brain was developing.
The doctors said that Aiyana had cerebral palsy and started listing all of the things she WOULDN'T be able to do, like walk, talk, read and write ... the list went on and on. The family was crushed. I couldn't imagine my baby sister not able to run outside ... or dance ... or sing.
Physical therapy started immediately. They were teaching her sign language to communicate and all of a sudden 'daddy' and 'mommy' started coming out of her mouth, and then she walked one step, then another. And before you know it, she was running all over the house, talking, singing and dancing.
She continued to grow and continued to amaze us, each day drawing a line through the doctor's WOULDN'Ts. Because all of this occurred while her brain was developing, her brain re-wired itself to take over the undeveloped part. She got a little leg brace to strengthen it and a hand brace to keep her hand open. As time went on she continued to amaze us.
Aiyana had her first seizure about that time and it has been controlled with meds. Doctors cautioned that seizures will increase as she gets older, but again Aiyana just keeps trucking along. Eight years have passed and she excels at everything she does: riding her bike, break dancing, jumping and skipping, reading and writing. If you say CAN'T, she shows you she WILL.
Falling down doesn't keep Aiyana down, it does the opposite. She has never given up on anything she has done because she fights for it. Only God knows why things have come to this extreme point, but this spectacular girl is a miracle child and has defied all the odds.
For those of you who haven't met her, we hope it helps you see what we see, that Aiyana isn't giving up on this and every day that goes by she is showing us how to fight and keep our spirits up. We can't wait to dance with her again.
--Morgan
March 6, 2001, Aiyana came into our lives. At one point during our Mom's pregnancy it looked like might be carrying twins. We all expected a very big baby ... and she was perfect with her dark brown curly hair and big brown eyes that were full of love, wonder and happiness. She overwhelmed our lives with joy.
She brought something out in all of us. I had been a big sister 3 times already but there was something different with her. It wasn't that I didn't love my brothers or sister, but I just wanted to be Aiyana's mommy, too.
Aiyana started to crawl and was getting very good at playing with stuff, but we noticed she didn't crawl like the rest of us: she would scoot on her bottom always on one side. Mom and Dad also noticed she wasn't utilizing her right hand when she played and it was in a tight fist. Right before her first birthday, our parents took her to the doctor and they did some tests and a catscan and discovered that more than half of the left hemisphere of her brain was empty space that had never developed. The doctors think that while she was growing in the womb Aiyana developed a blood clot that led to a massive stroke while her brain was developing.
The doctors said that Aiyana had cerebral palsy and started listing all of the things she WOULDN'T be able to do, like walk, talk, read and write ... the list went on and on. The family was crushed. I couldn't imagine my baby sister not able to run outside ... or dance ... or sing.
Physical therapy started immediately. They were teaching her sign language to communicate and all of a sudden 'daddy' and 'mommy' started coming out of her mouth, and then she walked one step, then another. And before you know it, she was running all over the house, talking, singing and dancing.
She continued to grow and continued to amaze us, each day drawing a line through the doctor's WOULDN'Ts. Because all of this occurred while her brain was developing, her brain re-wired itself to take over the undeveloped part. She got a little leg brace to strengthen it and a hand brace to keep her hand open. As time went on she continued to amaze us.
Aiyana had her first seizure about that time and it has been controlled with meds. Doctors cautioned that seizures will increase as she gets older, but again Aiyana just keeps trucking along. Eight years have passed and she excels at everything she does: riding her bike, break dancing, jumping and skipping, reading and writing. If you say CAN'T, she shows you she WILL.
Falling down doesn't keep Aiyana down, it does the opposite. She has never given up on anything she has done because she fights for it. Only God knows why things have come to this extreme point, but this spectacular girl is a miracle child and has defied all the odds.
For those of you who haven't met her, we hope it helps you see what we see, that Aiyana isn't giving up on this and every day that goes by she is showing us how to fight and keep our spirits up. We can't wait to dance with her again.
--Morgan
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