My sister - you would never know it to meet her, but she's been through some stuff. Born with a disability that wasn't fully realized until she was two years old, she spent the better part of her young childhood in doctors' offices, surgeries, technicians' offices, therapy, and general confusion.
Kids are mean. And my sister's classmates were no exception - they made sure she knew they knew she was struggling and made sure to peck at the weak spots. I remember coming home from school often to my sister fighting back tears after schoolmates had given her a rough day.
As time, and technology, progressed she found her way, and things leveled. By high school she was cheerleader - and not just the consolation basketball cheerleader like her sister - a football cheerleader ... the real deal. Go team Jenn.
My sister's natural ability for dance eludes all of the rest of us, and this become her undergraduate pursuit. Hours of daily practice and grueling physical routines surrounded her core studies. This would be her career - the vision was clear. Until she blew out her knee. In a single moment, everything changed; a shattered knee, a shattered dream.
Once again, she would pick herself up and forge ahead. The future saw challenging work situations, the kind that erode one's confidence and invoke self-doubt. Jenn would not be shaken. And somewhere along the way, she developed this ridiculously quick witted sense of humor that somehow felt like Jenn 2.0, and always leaves us laughing hysterically or at least shaking our heads with a smile.
Years of ongoing fatigue and discomfort, undiagnosed, plagued her during this time. Doctor after doctor came up with mis-diagnoses or nothing at all. And finally the verdict was in - lupus. Over a decade-long dance with this disease, for which there is no cure, has had her fighting once again. This time without any hump to just get over - this one will stubbornly stay with her.
As it is with life, new struggles always come our way. As new struggles come my sister's way, it will once again be hard to watch her walk through it, but her fighter spirit will prevail. That's simply a fact.
These tiny glimpses have been abbreviations of the larger dynamic stories, lacking the character and detail known to my family and Jenn's close friends. But they give a picture of a series of hurdles that my sister has handled with grace and tenacity in a way that I not only admire, but will always inspire me to stay strong and keep fighting, no matter the challenge.
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