Seeing is Believing

“Seeing is believing”. This is a phrase I often use to describe my journey with my daughter. When she was little, people would tell me she was going to sit up, walk, talk, feed herself, dress herself and play like other kids. I hear them, but I still kept wondering… okay, but when?! Then, as she started to do these things and more, I started to really truly BELIEVE! I truly started to understand that if I had patience she would show me she could do anything she wanted to.

Now thirteen years later, she is calling me on her iPhone, “Mom, can you get me Subway on your way home?” She is making ME dinner! She is texting her friends, going to the movies and has started Karate lessons all on her own. She is looking forward to making me breakfast in bed for Mother’s Day, a tradition she started years ago. She heard her brother talking about prom and the first words out of her mouth were “I want to go to prom!” and I’m sure she will.

As I was writing this, she sat down next to me. So I asked her… What do you want to say with your voice? Here is her answer:

“I want to take a cooking class. I want to be in a band like my brother. I want to sing like Cher and Katy Perry. I like to sing my songs a lot! I like to go to the movies with my friends. I like to hang out with my mom and watch General Hospital and Hawaii 5-0. I want to get a job with the 5-0! I like to play basketball with Special Olympics and take Karate lessons from National Karate and go to the Karate tournaments. When I go to high school, I want to go to prom with my date. When I grow up I want to be a cook in my own restaurant.”

What a great voice!!

Heather is a teenager with hopes and dreams on her own journey towards adulthood. She is studying every day at school so she can make her dreams come true. She is in charge of her destiny and I don’t worry any more. I know that she is a strong, capable person. I have seen what she can do and I believe there is no stopping her!

I’m so proud to be Heather’s mom. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect daughter!!

-written by Shari