The West Star: Sister sister.

So the weather has been pretty amazing lately. Usually Louisiana is pretty consistant with her temperature mood swings. One day you're stepping outside in your shorts, instantly feeling the humidity suffocate you from the inside out.. while the very next day you're stepping outside in twenty seven layers and staring at icicles hanging down from the edge of your roof. Gotta love it. I'm pretty sure that the icicle spells are over and done with, but then again that only means that hot and humid are next in line.
Since the forecast has been next to perfect lately I was dying to just go outside and do something with my life.
As I was walking from the car to the backdoor I see my dads bike leaning up against the storage room. Bingo.
Well, we only have about 97283927 bikes in the storage room so why go by myself?
I go to grab my last bag out of the front seat and hear someone squeal. I look up to see my sister spill all of her Chickfila on the ground..
Oh yes. I instantly knew who my biking companion would be.
It was just us at home anyways so the idea sounded perfect. And I mean, she could go for a bike ride..right? Spilling chickfila on the ground is kind of depressing. Fresh air and exercise couldn't hurt. ;)
We left a little before five and road all over checking out tons of different houses in the neighborhood. At one point she rode ahead of me and lead the way. I stayed behind her watched her long blonde hair swing from one direction to the other. I couldn't help but think of what a strong little girl she is. She was just peddling away as healthy as could be. I turned and watched people walk around with their dogs, I saw kids outside kicking soccer balls, cars pass. These people had no idea. These people had not a clue what they were simply glancing over at. All they saw was a healthy girl in a red sweatshirt riding her bike. Nothing fazed them. I saw something so much more than that.. I was looking at someone stronger than me. I was looking at someone who shouldn't even be alive. I was looking at a miracle.
It was just like any other day. I went to school, I went to class and at 3:00.. (well probably later than that, my mom is pretty good about being late) we all got picked up from school. When we closed the door to the car and got all buckled up my mom told us that we were bringing Ana Denae in for a checkup at the doctors office. I remember Ana starting to complain because she didn't want to go to the doctors office, she wanted to go to the dentist instead. Our dentist clearly loved spoiling children. Ana Denae would always walk out with more stickers than anyone. Little did my baby sister know, she would soon be getting a lot more stickers than she bargined for.. that, along with hospital bands, bandaids, shots and MRI's. The list goes on and on.
I remember signing to her (she was born deaf) how we could go to the dentist another time, that she could get stickers at the doctors too. Once she realized that, she was more so okay with the idea of the doctors office. We soon pulled up and walked all the way down the narrow hallway. We opened the last door on the left and waited around until they called her in. I stayed out with my brothers while she went in the back for her check up. When they came out my mom told us we were going to have to go over to the hospital to get some bloodwork done. Everyone kept on asking questions. "Why this, why that?" No one knew what was going on.
While walking from the parking lot to the hospital I remember looking up at noticing how grey the sky was. Everything was so gloomy. My mom held my sister and didn't say a word. I think we all knew something wasn't right. When we got in I took my little brother over to the big fish tank out in the waiting area while my mom filled out some paperwork. Time passed and they called us all back into a smaller waiting room for Ana Denae to get the bloodwork done. From what I remember, this is about when my dad showed up. He stayed out with us while my mom took my sister in the back room. I sat in the chair and stared at the tweetybird painted on the wall, when all of a sudden I heard a little cry from behind the door they brought Ana in. I looked over at my dad and saw him tense up. He shook his head, "Poor little Ana." Something definitely wasn't right.
The phone rang and the receptionist handed it to my parents. When I saw the looks in their faces I knew something was terribly wrong. I had no idea what was going on. As we were walking out of the hospital with my dad, Ana Denae's teacher showed up and she and my dad spoke for a few seconds and exchanged worried looks. She and my mom were best friends so that part of it made sense, but why was she here?
The whole car ride home was a blur. I would be lying if I said I remembered any of it. When we got home my dad called my older brother and I back into his bedroom. He sat us down on the bed and finally told us what was going on. He looked us both in the eyes and didn't hold anything back, "Ana Denae has cancer." Cancer? I didn't exactly know what cancer was. I knew it was something bad.. and I knew that people could die from it. Even though I didn't completely understand, hearing him say that was such a scary thing. Even then, I didn't know how scary it really was. He told us that the cancer was called leukemia and it was cancer of the blood. He told us that it was very serious. He explained how there were two types and the type that she had was called ALL. He told us that she would go to a special hospital for cancer patients. I remember asking him when. And all he said was "very soon." He explained how she would take chemotherapy and it would cause her to lose all of her hair, how right now she was sick and the medicine would make her very weak. After hearing it all I started to cry.
I didn't want people to make fun of my sister if she was bald, I didn't want Ana Denae to have to suffer, I didn't want her to die.
That night they were packing their bags to leave for Memphis. The doctors said that it was so serious that she really needed to leave the next day. Just like that they were gone. The journey was a tough one. She battled for her life for several years. There were times when she wasn't even expected to live. Shots and pills were daily, hats came just as often as stickers, masks and IV's were nonstop, and hello kitty bandaids were her new best friends. This was her new way of life. Watching her suffer put such a toll on my life. I became so protective over her. I only wish that I had half of the faith that I did then. I knew that God would take care of her. When kids would ask me a recess if I was scared of her dying I would always say the same thing. "No, God's going to heal her." And at such a young age, I always believed that. I never believed anything else.
I continued to watch the days go by. Some days were good days and some days were terrible. I could go on and on about everything that happened in just those years. By the time I would be anywhere near writing everything, it would be a book.
But the important part is that through every circumstance, every trial, every obstacle, she was healed. I strongly believe in healing. After seeing everything that she has been through, after hearing and/or witnessing every last story about all the times she almost didn't make it, there is no way that I could ever say that there is not a God. He has proved his love countless times. Each day is a gift of life. So often we take it for granted.
So quickly it can all start tumbling in.
My sister is walking proof of that.
But throughout it all there is hope.
<3