Stephanie+J.

What is love? It seems as though when most people think of love, romantic relationships come to mind. Holding hands in the park, long walks on the beach, kisses in the moonlight, and all that mushy stuff that everyone longs for. Though love comes in all different shapes and forms. The kind of love I’m talking about is sisterly love. Honestly I think sibling love is one of the strongest there is. You can fuss and fight all day long, but when it comes down to it, you love each other to death and would do anything to keep each other happy. When my sister Eden was born, there were many complications during birth. She wasn’t even breathing when she first came out. They didn’t even think she would make it past a few days. She stayed in the NICU (intensive care for newborns) for twelve whole days. The doctors were VERY pessimistic about the whole situation and didn’t instill very much hope in us. Every day she was in the hospital, it weakened our hopes of her coming home. I was much younger at the time, and wasn’t able to visit with her. I did see the pictures though… Just imagine an 18-inch newborn baby, barely able to keep her eyes open, feeding tubes, i.v.’s, and breathing apparatuses covering her frail structure. She had dark purple bruises and needle holes all over. Every time she cried it pained my mother terribly because in my sister’s condition, she couldn’t be picked up. So she had to let her whine… Now my sister is 7 years old and perfectly happy. She has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk on her own just yet. She faces many things challenging that others find way to easy. She can’t do things that a lot of other kids her age can do, but always makes the best of her situation. With all the hardships she’s facing, you would expect her to be very unhappy and not doing much, but in fact it’s the very opposite. She constantly has a smile on her face that lights up the room and a giggle that will send you into fits of laughter yourself. Her eyes are always bright and she’s just so full of love. My sister has taught me so much in her 7 short years of life. To accept people as they are, no matter how “different” they may appear. You don’t know someone’s background story and what they’ve been through. I absolutely HATE when people judge my sister, so of course I try to never do that. She’s also taught me to love one another unconditionally. You never know what could happen and should let your loved ones know just how much you do love them. Like in my sister’s situation, they didn’t even think she would leave the hospital. Even though she doesn’t talk, Eden show’s just how much she loves me every day, with every kiss and every hug. The way she’s happy no matter what life throws at her. How even though she may not perceive things the way others do, she seems like she’s listening. It’s amazing how someone so young can teach you some of the most important life lessons, perhaps one of the most important of all… Learning to love.