Snowballs, Sign Language, and Sweet Words from Super Man

The Minis had a tough day at school today. They both came home a little sad. Mondays are hard for everyone, but they can be especially rough for people with TBIs. Even the slightest lack of sleep can really mess up your day when your brain is still healing from trauma. There are so many things that we (as in, the people without brain injuries) take for granted on a daily basis. So many things that come easily for us that aren’t easy at all for the Minis. Nothing major happened today from what I can tell, but for both of them, there were enough little things that they got in the car with their heads hanging, feeling defeated by the day’s woes. Poor darlins. I wish I could do more to help them. I wish I could thump their bullies in the nose and shake some sense into a few of the adults at their schools. But I can’t do that. And I can’t fix their brains either. But I can try real hard to make them feel twice as much love at home when they’re not feeling it at school. And if that doesn’t perk them up, well, there’s not much a Monday can dish out that a blue bubblegum snowball with condense milk won’t cure.

                photo 1(1)       photo 2(1)

We adore that snowball stand. It represents everything we love about summer, and like Scout and Jem Finch, “Summer is our best season.” We sat on those plastic chairs this afternoon and worked out their troubles with the help of a little sugar and a lot of conversation. Angel May expressed some sadness about not getting a certificate at school for “acing” a subject this year. She told us she was anxious about her third grade graduation ceremony tonight because she didn’t expect to get any certificates. Before the accident, she was in the 91st percentile in the nation academically; she is not used to not being one of the best, and easily acing every subject. Adjusting to being an average student has been very heartbreaking and frustrating for her. Her brother quickly encouraged her, “Don’t sweat it, Sis – you aced life this year.” His sweet words were so timely and so kind.

When we left, my belly was full of snowball and my heart was full of gratitude.

Angel May did get a certificate tonight, just one, and just for passing to the fourth grade, but honestly, of all the certificates she’s ever gotten, I think this one is my favorite. It represents so much more than her moving to middle school; it represents life and survival, hope and healing, faith and mercy. She also performed with her classmates tonight. They sang “What a Wonderful World” in sign language. She has practiced and stressed over that performance for weeks now. At the snowball stand, she said she “mostly” knew it and was sure she’d mess up, but she didn’t. She knew all the words and the motions and I cried while I watched her perform because I know how very hard it is for her to memorize new things now, and I am so proud of how determined she is to succeed despite her disability. She was perfectly content and excited about that one certificate tonight and I am confident that it won’t be her last one.

This entry was posted in Broken Homes. Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to Snowballs, Sign Language, and Sweet Words from Super Man

  1. Cheryl Robinson says:

    So sorry for the frustrations, lack of compassion, and just plain rudeness the Minis are going through! But as for bullies…I think there are laws to stop that. I hope you do report them!
    Your blog (& your day!) ended beautifully! Praise God for the victory to claim! God is amazing, & so are y’all! May blessings shower down on you three daily to encourage you! Still praying! ❤

  2. Cathie Lacoste Oggs says:

    Sweet Angel May…sweet Super Man, and sweet small successes

  3. Ev says:

    I had just taken a big swig of coffee when I read Superman’s sweet words to his sister- I choked up and had to swallow fast. He aced it!
    I don’t think we had as much competition in school when I was a kid, of course I am old! But we just went on our merry way, every individual achievement was not singled out. It seemed to be a lot less complicated. I don’t know if this is helping kids or not, but it is the way it goes today.

  4. Oh Em Gee. How bout Sassafras and her class performed the same song WITH the sign language. Nearly did me in. I never would have made it through Angel May’s. Lawdyhammercy.

  5. “You aced life this year.” Best. Encouragement. Ever. And oh so stinking true.

  6. Candace says:

    I cried watching her perform too. She’s a tough cookie.. both of them are. They can have a much needed summer break with the best Momma ever!

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s