Wonderful People

Have you ever had someone say something to you that hit the bottom of your heart and sent a ping, ringing around in there for a few days, in a good way? I know you have. Words have such unexpected power. And positive words have the ability to send us skipping through the whole week, even. Negative words…well, you know. But those positive affirmations. Those are the ones.

The nursing supervisor visits me every few months to check up on my daughter. She examines Reese and asks if we are happy with the nurses who take care of our medically fragile child. It’s usually just one more appointment, kind of a nuisance really. But this last time, I scheduled her visit while two other therapists would be in the home. It’s called consolidation.

The vision therapist bounded through the door with his booming voice and regular joy. Reese didn’t take her eyes off of him the whole time. Ironic, isn’t it? She qualifies for vision therapy because she is “blind", but she loves looking at him. And she smiles because of him.

When he left, the supervisor looked at me and said, “Wow, he’s amazing.“

"Yes," I responded, "she loves him."

She followed with, “Reese attracts such genuine, wonderful people. She is surrounded by the best people.”

That felt like a big, warm hug. You know the kind? Like when you hear the words you needed to hear but didn’t know you needed to hear? Have you been there? Proverbs 25:11 says, "A word spoken at the right time is like golden apples on a silver tray." Yep.

She continued, “Most of my patients do. They have such pure spirits. They know who is genuine and they reject those who are not.”

It’s not that we have searched the town for the best people. It’s not that I asked around and hunted down awesome therapists. Reese attracted them with her goodness and purity. I loved that.

I agreed with her and then spent some time thinking about all of the wonderful people in her life. This vision therapist in particular came to mind. When we told him we were starting an alternative therapy that would be expensive, he came the next week with a check for $100 to help us get started. In my mind, it may as well have been $10,000 because on a school district salary…well, it meant so much to me. Pure kindness.

Another one of her therapists told me that Reese has such a “beautiful quality of life.” This is a child with Aicardi Syndrome. She has seizures. She is in a wheelchair. Most of the world looks at her with sad, puppy dog eyes. But this woman…she truly sees the beauty. She sees the colossal love she gives and receives. She sees the explosive smiles. She sees the beauty that others miss. That is healing to my soul.

An old high school friend, who I probably haven’t seen in over 20 years sent us $2500 to go toward her wheelchair van. Have you ever been surprised by love? I have. 80 caring people donated to make that dream a reality. One was a stranger who wrote a check for $15,000. Mouth hanging open.

Some friends of my mom brought over a collection of gifts and gift cards at Christmas, just to bring us joy. Surprise.

Her speech therapist came to see her and brought her son with her during her own spring break. He’s the same age, so they played Shopkins.

Her preschool teacher still comes to visit her.

Her nurse checks in on her on her days off. I know she loves her like she’s her own child.

Her pediatrician calls and emails on the weekends. Because she actually cares.

All the meals, all the emails and texts and facebook messages from people who are drawn to her. That fills me.

She has attracted beautiful people. She has brought goodness into our lives. She has attracted love. And we are the beneficiaries of beauty because she attracts beauty.

It’s kinda like what I always tell my girls: You get what you give. You attract what you are. I think I actually may be right.