How does she do it? How does she smile... at me, at her family, teachers, "friends", the world? How can she face the world with so much joy that you just want to strangle the girl, especially when you're not a morning person and she is!?!?!?!?! I admire my almost teenage daughter for the tenacity that she wakes up with- to live each day to the fullest she knows how, determined to learn, to thrive, to succeed. She will talk to you, even if you ignore her. She will smile at you even when you scowl, and of course reply with "I love YOU!". She will help whether you want her to or not. And she will shadow you like none other.

She lives with pain, embarrassment, hearing loss, poor communication skills, cognitive delays, lack of fine and gross motor skills. She lives without talking much on world events, without friends and things to do with friends, without the excitement, the anticipation of all that one holds dear as a teen: driving, boyfriends, parties, dances. She lives with some hardcore parents and three little brothers.

What she sees... Jesus loves her, a Dad and "beautiful" Mom that love her. Three brothers who are "cool"(she's very proud of them). Looks forward to birthdays- doesn't matter whose, holidays, visits from family, school and days off of school. Food... always looks forward to food, visits to doctors, a trip to anywhere with anyone. Buy her anything and she's stoked. She rarely complains and constantly smiles.

Wanna know how this makes me feel? What's that feeling when someone cuts you off in traffic, dumps plans with you for someone else, walk in on someone talking about you? What did you say when you sat on hold for an hour only to have the operator hang up on you, received that ticket for doing 20 over the limit, dropped that 10 lb can of tomatoes on your toe? What did you say? How did you feel? Yep, that's about it. Probably not all that I feel and all that I want to say, but some of it.

All things aside... God works. He works powerfully. He works mightily. He holds Olivia closely.