Friend

     Want to know something? Things are going well for our older daughter.... She is almost four months past her last major seizure, a real bad one which landed us in emergency and it is over two months since her last seizure--- period. This is huge for us and means that despite my carpenter husband`s recent shop accident, we are all breathing a little easier. Our daughter is volunteering at two different thrift stores and at her church`s Sunday school this summer. She is going to her second camp of the summer: a sleep-over camp for kids with epilepsy and she is really looking forward to it. But finally the most important and life-changing aspect of her life is the presence of friendship. Since joining Special Olympics and Challenger Baseball our daughter has made a few friends and this has made all the difference in the world. There is a spring in her step and a sparkle in her eyes that was absent for some time. Having a guy friend and a girl pal to go to the movies with, to swim with, or to just hang out with has made an incredible difference in the way that our daughter moves through life. A mother I know whose daughter struggles with depression said to me ``A mother is only as happy as her saddest child.`` I know this to be true. I also know that our children`s happiness is the most important aspect of life barring their health. When these two factors walk hand in hand in a positive direction then the world can be a beautiful place to be.