“The greatest gift that I have come to receive throughout this journey of pediatric illness has been that of connection. Real, genuine, brass tacks connection. Connection to perspective, connection to gratitude, connection to fear, connection to love and most importantly human connection. The bonds that I have forged throughout the past four years have led to my ability to persist, rise and grow.
The amazing thing about true human connection is that it can happen in an instant…I remember the exact moment that I saw Kate pass by my hospital room door heading into hers, I recognized myself in her because that had been me just weeks prior…entering this unknown world of parenting a sick child. It was like looking in a mirror. We were connected before we even met. I had started down this path just before her…I knew the darkness that she felt and that if I shared my steps…showed her my footprints she would catch up and we’d walk it together. Our paths became one, we were no longer alone. There were long stretches where our prints could be clearly seen side by side and moments where only one set remained because we chose to carry each other.”
I wrote the above back in 2017 and 2 years later I’m re-reading it with tears streaming down my face. While we live hours apart I feel like Kate is a part of me, like our cells somehow merged as our daughters received those that saved them. At any point I could pick up the phone with confidence that she’d answer yet I rarely do because honestly…she’s already there, I already know what she’d say. I can unload my worries to her in my mind and hear her tone, inflection and cowgirl up attitude. She’s my voice of reason with a potty mouth, my greatest cheerleader in spurs and a forever friend…friend? no…that doesn’t feel right. Kate is my sister…not through blood but through circumstance. Was the circumstance a good one? Nope. Will we continue to get through it together? YASSS SISTER.
Kate…I love you…so dang much. This one is for you and for Elsie and all the other “sisters through circumstance” out there.
“I have no doubt in my mind that those two will walk through this life together while Kate and I sit back and watch. We will witness their prints…some will be clearly seen side by side and in moments where there is only one set it will be because THEY chose to carry each other.”
-Excerpt from blog in 2017…still true.
