I am so thankful to have a wonderful sister in my life. All of my life I have been amazed by her. At 8 months of age, she became deaf from a battle with spinal meningitis. I never understood as a child just how serious of a disease she had battled. As I grew older, I began to realize that we could have lost her. I had no idea as a child just how tough her fight was as an infant. That just makes her that much more special to all of us. She is my only sibling; my little sister. We have always had a special bond. She has taught me things that many will never experience. I have learned to see the world through the eyes of a deaf person. Life is certainly not easy. She has never had the chance to listen to music or go out to a dance club; she has only felt the vibrations and imagined in her own world what exactly music is all about. Yet, at my wedding she danced all night; and over the years we have joined each other on the dance floor time and time again at other weddings and special events. I know that she loves the time we spend with one another, laughing and being sisters – for her – that is the music. She is an incredible Aunt to my three children; she loves them like her own. She has lived away at school, graduated from college and has a wonderful full time job, where she is respected by her colleagues. She just continuously amazes me with her accomplishments. I am so lucky and so proud to call her my sister and one of my best friends. I love her with my whole heart and I am forever grateful to share my life with her.
November 14, 2011