Fri & Sat Oct 24-25

Sarah has had 2 incredible nights this weekend. Indulge me the oppurtunity to share...

In August of 2007, a little girl named Alyssa joined my class at school. She was born with severe clubfeet. She had already had 2 surgeries when she came to me & was scheduled for a 3rd (& final) one in Jan. 08. We talked about it leading up to the surgery and how Alyssa would be in casts when she came back to school after surgery. Her surgery was mid-January and she was out of school for almost a month recovering & trying to figure out how to function in casts that went up to the tops of her thighs. They were bent at the knees, so she couldn't walk at all, so she came back to school in a wheelchair. I had to carry her to the potty and let me tell ya, 2 casts are heavy when they're connected to a squirmy, giggly 30 lb preschooler! ha ha! Before she came back to school, I went over & hung out at her house one evening and took her presents from the kids in our class and just played & reminded her that we missed her at school. She came back for the Valentine's Day party & then slowly eased back into school after that. Basically from mid January til late April, she was in a cast or brace of some sort til she was finally out of them altogether. She is the spunkiest, most fun little lady who is super brave & full of life & sillyness 24/7! :) Sarah & Samuel went to school w/ me on the day that my class had our Easter party. Their school was out for some reason that day, so they just came w/ me. Sarah really got attached to Alyssa. At that point, she was still very slow to walk because she was in braces, so when we went out to hunt eggs, Sarah held her hand & walked around with her helping her find the eggs. (Soooooooooo sweet!)

So last night was Alyssa's 4th birthday party & we got invited! She still comes by my room every Tues/Thurs when she's in school to hug me & say Hello, so I was thrilled to get her party invitation. Her parents went NUTS with this party and everyone had so much fun! It was a cowboy/cowgirl theme.

This is Sarah with Alyssa. Check out those super-straight legs!!!!


A few days ago, Sarah lamented the fact that she'd never ridden a horse or pony. We tried to convince her that she had ridden one (she really has!!), but she couldn't remember any rides, so we finally gave into her pleas that she's a poor Texan child who's never been on a horse or pony. When we got to Alyssa's party last night, she was thrilled to see PONIES in their front yard!!! She rode one almost immediately. And then did it again. And again. There were 2 ponies and I know she had to have ridden each one at least 3 times. She loved it!

After the pony rides & a hot dog cooked over the "campfire", it started getting dark, so it was time for a hayride! They took several trips around the block. The first time, Sarah went alone and seemed perfectly content to ride with a bunch of strangers. The second time around, some of the adults got off & I joined them. Look at the grin on her face. This was taken before the first trip around the block in the hay trailer. She was having a blast!

All in all, we had a great time celebrating Alyssa's 4th birthday with her. It was such a treat to be invited & involved with one of my student's birthdays. And it doesn't hurt that her mom & I could totally hang out and have fun together. We're cut from the same cloth....even if hers is a little more silk & mine is cotton knit. ha ha!

Tonight brought another exciting thing for Sarah. A few weeks ago, she brought home a flyer about a volleyball clinic for elementary girls from school. It is taught by the high school volleyball girls & their coaches. The flyer promised that the little girls would make a Tshirt, have snacks, learn some volleyball basics and they would be given a ticket to this coming week's volleyball game. She wanted to go. And so, we called & registered her. Tonight was the clinic.

She was excited about going, but a little nervous when it came time to go. She got dressed, ate a quick supper and was ready to go when I saw the first tears. She was anxious about it & her nerves got the best of her. We talked, we hugged, we giggled...and she was ready to go for it.

We got in the car, drove 1/2 a mile to the high school and as she stepped out of the van, she spotted another little girl wearing sweatpants. Round two of the tears emerged.

Sarah: (tearfully) She's wearing pants. I'm wearing shorts. I'm going to be the only one wearing shorts.

Me: Honey, I'm sure there will be other people wearing shorts. In fact, that girl will probably be really hot before the night's over. She might be the only one in pants. Don't worry about it. Come on...

Sarah: (still wiping her eyes) But what if I'm the only one wearing shorts? Everyone's going to think I look stupid.

Me: No...no one is going to think that. They're all going to be wearing shorts. It's that girl in pants who is going to look funny. Do you still want to go? If you want to go home, we can.

Sarah: No, I want to go. But wait...let me stop crying first.

Me: Ok. (hug) {pause} Alright...ready to go?

We walked about halfway up the sidewalk & the tears started again.

Sarah: wait....I'm still crying.

Me: Ok. What's wrong?

Sarah: I don't know. Just give me a minute. I'll go in when I stop crying.

Me: Ok. (hug again...said a quick prayer over her in a whispered voice so she could hear me but no one else walking by could) Ready?

Sarah: I think so.

We got to the doorway & as she looked in, the tears flowed again.

Sarah: I don't know any of those girls.

Me: I'm sure there are other 2nd graders who already checked in. Let's go see.

Sarah: Wait. I don't want them to see me crying.

Me: Ok. (I turned where I'd sort of 'block' her from everyone's view & hugged her til she got done.) Ready now?

Sarah: Yes.

We approached a table to register & while handing them her release form, I asked if they could tell us what other 2nd graders had already checked in. They named 1 but Sarah didn't know her. They waved toward the gym & said "oh well, there are a LOT of 2nd graders in there already. I'm sure you'll know someone." At this point, a freshman volleyball girl approached us to take Sarah to the gym. Sarah was a ball of nerves & wasn't sure she wanted to do that alone, so I walked with her. Halfway down the hall, she was so anxious that she started crying again. I stopped & got down on her level and asked if she was sure she wanted to stay. Everytime I asked that, she'd declare that YES, she wanted to stay...but she was having such a hard time just walking in that I was really worried she'd freak out when I left. Poor baby. We had to stop twice going down the hall to the gym for extra hugs & to wipe tears.

We finally made it into the gym. The girl who had escorted us to the gym pointed out the area where "all" the 2nd graders were sitting. Umm, there were 5 of them. I don't really classify five as "a lot". When Sarah realized that she didn't know ANY of them, she began to cry again. I asked again if she wanted to go home & forget all of this, but again she insisted that she wanted to stay....she just needed a few minutes to get comfortable. So rather than walking up into the bleachers w/ the other 2nd grade girls, we sat on the front row at the bottom of the bleachers for a little while. The varsity girls' team was doing a little demonstration of skills on the gym floor, so we watched them for a while. Sarah enjoyed watching & was excited about learning how to do the things the 'big girls' were doing. Every time she'd be calm & seem comfortable I would ask if she was ready to go join the other 2nd grade girls. Each time, I was met with more tears. She understood that all the tears were unnecessary, but she was having such a hard time shutting them off & she was embarassed and didn't want anyone to see her crying, so she kept hanging onto me to "cover" her til she felt better. A couple of times she even looked at me & said "Ok, tickle me til I smile." ha ha! I'd tickle her & make her giggle, but the tears kept flowing when she'd stop laughing.

Several times, one of the volleyball players or a coach came over & talked to her, trying to convince her that everything would be OK, but it almost made the situation worse because then someone would SEE HER crying & that embarassed her, so when they'd walk away, she'd start crying again. ugh...vicious cycle. Everyone was really sweet, encouraging her about how much fun she was going to have.

Finally, one of the high school girls named Sylvia appealed to Sarah and she was able to convince her to hold her hand & go with her up into the bleachers with the other 2nd grade girls. She promised to sit with her and be her buddy for the night. Sarah turned to give me one last hug & walked up the bleachers w/ Sylvia. As we hugged, I whispered Phillipians 4:13 into her ear "You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength." I told her that if she got scared or something, to tell the girls and they could call us to come get her. I wanted her to know that there was a way out of this if she got scared & didn't want to stay. :::sniff, sniff::: I almost cried myself as I walked away. When I got to the door, across the gym from her, I turned to make sure she was OK one last time. Sylvia was sitting next to her with her arm around her shoulders talking to her & Sarah was smiling. :::sigh...relief:::

The clinic wasn't over til 9:30pm!! Sarah's usually in bed by 8-8:30, so she was really living large tonight! I went back to the gym at about 9:15 to watch her during the final few minutes of the clinic. She was standing in a circle with the other 2nd graders & the volleyball team members who'd been assigned to their group, bumping the ball back & forth around the circle. She was smiling & having fun. I knew she would. (She's on the far right in purple shorts.)

She just had to get into the event before she relaxed enough to enjoy it. She spotted me & smiled and even gave me that look that says "oh man...I didn't know it was already time to go!" ha ha! To close the evening, the girls formed a spirit line & let all the elementary girls run through it. She looked so cute running through the line of the "big girls" & coming out the end grinning!

Part of their treat for tonight was getting a pass to the Tuesday night game. Larry will take her and the other 2 kids that night while I go to a work staff meeting. I hate to miss it, but she will only wear her Tshirt & run through that same spirit line, so I've seen what she's going to do already.

It took some work to get her through the night, and she did tell me that she cried again partway through the night when she missed the ball one time. Her buddy, Sylvia, reassured her that people miss the ball all the time & it was no big deal. (Whew! Thanks, Sylvia!!!) When all was said & done, she had a ball and even asked if she could play volleyball in junior high & high school! Of course you can, baby girl!! I'm so proud of you for making it through tonight!!