Making Friends

Esra is no shrinking-violet.  Have you ever seen this girl work a room?  She will charm you out of your drink, your food, your bag even.  Now that I think about it, we have a lot of social appropriateness issues to work on.  But to say the least, she is friendly, unconditional, fearless and bossy.  And she loves her friends.  Here are few of them:

Esra and Cloey at the Circus.  

We met Cloey and her family at the Elmo event at Ryan House.  Cloey is ten and, like Esra, has the only documented case of a genetic disorder.  These girls are bosom friends and they just glow when they are together.  So, when Bridget at Hopekids called and said we could spend some time with Cloey's family at the circus, we were thrilled.  Thanks to HopeKids and their amazing donor who gave us their skybox and parking for the night.   The girls giggled, held hands and gave hugs.  Seeing these girls together really was the main event.

Esra, Estelle and Faith pushing/pulling the "train" 

This weekend, we went to the Arizona State Homeschool Convention.  We visited a booth hosted by veteran homeschool moms. We were blessed to meet a mom who understood what we were going through.  She has several children.  Three of them are adopted and have spina bifida.  Of course, Esra made friends with one of their lovely and equally friendly teenagers, Faith.  The first thing Esra wanted to do was to push Faith's wheelchair.  So, Esra held on to Faith's wheelchair and grinned while Faith pushed along and they explored the exhibitor hall.  

Esra and Anna

Last night, we had dinner with Anna and her family.  Anna is a year younger than Esra and she, too, has Spina Bifida.  I actually was introduced to Anna's mom through email when we lived in Connecticut.  Anna had just been born and because our families share the same faith and endure the same military insurance, our mutual friend thought we were a great match.  


We had no idea that we would one day live in Arizona.  So, now that the girls have met, they just adore each other.  And I always learn from Anna's mom.  She has a deep reservoir of faith and perserverance, plus the greatest record-keeping and documentation skills.  I always leave conversations with her with a renewed drive to document!


I should have gotten a picture of Anna pushing Esra's wheelchair.  Needless to say,  Anna endured cheerfully all of Esra's bossing.