Hope in Jasmine

Several months ago I wrote about my niece Ali and her many health ailments following the HPV vaccine. She still struggles two years later. Ali now has to be pushed around in a wheelchair and is slowly learning to walk and move on her own again. After a series of seizures she is also learning to read again. This is a girl that tested out of the eighth grade and skipped right onto highschool. A beautiful, extremely smart and talented girl. She was very involved with musical performance and theatre. I felt so blessed to see her in many productions at the Hale theater at the age of just 12 and 13. Another talented niece of mine Nastassjia landed the lead role of Jasmine in a community production of Aladdin. My niece Ali heard of this and made it clear that she wanted to go! She has been very isolated and unable to do many things since being sick. This was the first activity that Ali had expressed interest in for quite some time. Of course my sister-n-law loaded her and my niece Chloe up and took them to the matinee production of Alladin. Ali sat in her wheelchair on the top row and described feeling true hope. Hope that she would one day walk, eat, and learn all on her own. That she could belt out her beautiful voice again on the stage. Or record music again. We all include her in every meal, family, and individual prayer. She has become a standard in my children's prayers. Following the play my niece Ali rolled for the first time and took three steps on her own. It may seem small but it was a significant move in the right direction and an answer to our prayers. We have hope and faith and belief that she will recover fully. Maybe one day her songs will serenade us over the sound waves of our IPODs or radios. While my eyes still fill with tears when my thoughts turn to Ali, now they are also tears of gratitude and hope.