And so it goes

All the "normal" milestones she missed.  I remember being ecstatic when she could lift her pinky finger....or the first time she actually smiled.  I also remember crying because she didn't smile at me first.  My heart believed she didn't see me as her mom, but as her "nurse".   May sound crazy, but hey I'm just giving you the truth as it seemed back in the day.  

There is a friend from church that Lillian identified as "one of her people".  When she does this, we usually don't know why...we don't know the reasons.  So, Sondra has been one of her people for a many years.  She seeks her out to hug her on Sundays.  One Sunday, when Sondra was at the altar, Lillian insisted on going up beside her and knelt and prayed beside her.  This past Sunday, Lillian left our seat, when the preaching started, gathered her things and went to sit by Sondra. A few weeks ago, Sondra sat in the same row as us and Lillian immediately picked up her things and went to sit down beside her.  It was not lost on me, that my "teenager" got up to sit with someone else on Sunday morning.  My heart took joy in it. 

I so appreciate the love our friends pour out on Lillian.  I love that they accept her and continue to try to build relationship with her even though she can be shy, sometimes difficult, and a lot of times difficult to just plain understand her communication.  I appreciate that they don't avoid her. I appreciate that they continue to make efforts to communicate with her.  She doesn't have "typical" friends.  I adore when other kids speak to her (even when she often ignores them) 

So, all that to say, thanks for loving us.  Thanks for loving her.  Thank you for adding joy to my days. You will never know how much I appreciate it.