A POEM FOR NALAH


A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam.

For a brief moment it's glory and beauty belong to our world.

But then it flies on again, and though we wish it could have stayed, we feel so lucky just to have seen it.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Trisomy Siblings at play...



Karis and Nalah always found a way to play together, despite Nalah's different abilities. Nalah like many trisomy kids was not able to walk, crawl. Some do have better mobility, but Nalah was a paraplegic. Needless to say, there are ways to be active without actually walking. Nalah had the sweetest happy dance. She would kick her feet happily, or swing them both side to side quickly if she was excited. Nalah was very capable with her toes, and constantly removing things, opening things, playing with things with her feet. Karis was brilliant at adapting her play to include Nalah. I will always be proud of Karis for how she entertained and included her little sister. I once asked Karis if anything about Nalah ever made her sad, as Karis often had to sit by as we attended to a medical need or routine. Karis replied "the only time Nalah made me sad is when she died, Mommy". On this date, Karis was attending to her babies, including Nalah and a little dollie. Nalah, for her part, had endless patience for all of Karis' ideas and activities. Nalah's face lit up when Karis entered the room. The two were best of buds. Still are, although now Karis must carry on with a sister in Heaven. My most precious memories are of my girls together. They played beautifully. Nalah has enriched Karis' life and I can see her legacy in her big sister. Karis is so nurturing and compassionate with others, those who are smaller, and those more vulnerable. We are all better people because of our trisomy child. And about the hair, I do admit that we spent more time on other things, and less on Karis' hair while the four of us lived together on Home Care in Edmonton. Karis now has a lovely short hairdo and we attend to it every day. I miss those messy hair days when we just stayed at home and played.

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