2004-09-21 - 6:25 p.m.
Tomorrow is a very important day.
My niece gets an MRI on her leg/ankle tomorrow. She will be on my mind all day long. I'm hoping there's good news involved. She's so beautiful and far too young to be in the pain she's in.
She has osteochondritis dessicans. It's a degenerative bone disease. The lower end of her tibia and her talus are brittle and they may never get better. She's had surgeries before and they've never helped. She will need more surgery, too. She's just a kid, a mere 16 years old.
She's an athlete, but hasn't been able to do much because of the pain she's been in. Her movement is restricted and she's not allowed to jump. This condition forced her to give up cheerleading, which she was really good at. It tears her apart to be like this.
My niece is the coolest kid. She makes mistakes like anyone else and learns from them. She's as normal as could be except for her ankle/leg. People don't notice it, though. She's got the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. It's the first thing you see on her when she walks into the room. You think, "Wow! Who's that beautiful girl?" And when I get to say she's my niece, I feel proud. She's strong. She's got lots of muscle and lots of smarts, too. She's a great student. She's polite, she's kooky, and she's really good at getting her own way. Everyone calls her The Princess.
The Princess has a heart of gold and is surrounded by a loving family who'd do anything for her. She's a lucky kid. She loves her sister and isn't afraid to be angry at her, at times. She's got so many friends and a very sweet boyfriend. He saves her sanity when she feels she's losing it. He loves her for the wonderful person she is.
The Princess aches. She wants her pain to go away and isn't happy feeling like this all the time. She gets depressed about it, as anyone in her place would. She's strong, though. She's stronger than she thinks and she can overcome any obstacle that's in her path. She has, so far. The Princess has a will like no other. She has spunk and vigor. She has a great head on her shoulders and she uses common sense 99% of the time. She's like any other teenage kid trying to forge her way in this world. She has her doubts, her moods, her moments. She's entitled to be pissed at the world. She hurts and there's no good reason why.
She doesn't use her pain to hurt people. She can smile at you and make a bad day good. She follows her heart, but uses her head when making decisions. She's one of a kind. There's no other Princess like her.
I love The Princess. I wish I could make her pain go away. I wish I could cure her hurts. She is the one person I know that will never let her pain stand in her way. It will never get the best of her. It will never win. She may use her pain one day to help others with theirs. She's considering being a doctor.
She knows what she wants; she knows she will get it. She's one of the coolest people I know and I get to call her my niece. I feel lucky for that.
And I would move mountains for that kid if it meant she wouldn't have pain anymore.
