In 1993, I made a dear friend. Janice and I worked the graveyard shift together at a hoppin’ busy police department in the Bay Area. There’s nothing that brings two gals closer than nightly vehicle pursuits, gang fights, and homicides. She was by my side when I lost my baby. I was by her side when her two baby girls took their first breaths.
Fast forward seventeen years, Janice and I no longer work together or live by one another. But, when I hear she is going through something I still have a deep desire to help her. She is my friend and I love her.
Her twelve-year old daughter Hannah needs our prayers. She is having brain surgery on Wednesday at Children’s Hospital in Oakland. When I asked Jan’s permission to post about her youngest little girl and reach out to all of you for prayer, she was grateful. She explained to me below exactly what Hannah has.
She has hydrocephalus (excessive fluid on the brain) resulting from a tumor (tectal glioma) that is blocking the brain’s natural aquaduct. They tried an ETV which is punching a hole in the bottom ventricle but that didn’t work either because of scar tissue or it just can’t handle the amount of fluid she produces so now they are going to put in a shunt that will feed to her abdomen. I hope that’s not too much info. Thanks Jo we need all the prayers we can get
So, would you please pray for Hannah?
A couple of days ago Janice sent me an email of a story her oldest daughter Gaby had written. It was such a tender story about a little girl who suffered from much of what she’s had to witness her little sister Hannah suffer over the years, that it tore me up all day. I’ve included Gaby’s story for you to read below as well. I think you’ll be as amazed as I was. Gaby is quite the little writer! The love these two sisters have for one another is priceless.
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Gaby’s Story
Gaby had to make a kite for a social studies, they are studying Chinese history. This is the story she made up to go with her kite. I loved it. -Janice
Angel
Little Amy was a young child, brown eyed with bouncing curls falling a little past her shoulders when she was diagnosed with a tumor. The doctors had performed surgery removing the fluid from Amy’s head, but they removed something else as well: they took away her hair. They needed to operate on her head but they couldn’t with her thick hair. When Amy woke up in the hospital in a daze, she reached up and noticed she was near bald. She bit her lip hard and tried not to cry. She started to sing songs to herself, because she loved to sing. It got her mind off it, mostly.
Because deep in the back of her mind, it seemed to be tearing at her heart. It got the best of her, so she let the thoughts run through her mind. It was scary, all those months having pounding headaches and blurry vision, teachers and family getting frustrated because she was slow with everything to find out her brain was slowly drowning in excess fluid. And on top of that, she knew kids would make fun of her. They were getting meaner and meaner, who knows what responses she would get when she came back to school? She blinked and tears came out. She was starting to get lonely. Nobody knew how badly she wanted to hold her mama’s or daddy’s hand. But they weren’t there.
Then she looked up and saw a angelic girl standing above her. She had wings and a golden halo, with long flowing hair and bright eyes.
“Hello,” she whispered. “I am Leslie. Leslie Linnfield.”
Amy looked up in astonishment.
“Leslie, am I gonna live?” she asked.
“Oh, yes. You will live. Don’t cry anymore, I will protect you. I am your angel, I will stand by you. Here, take this.”
Leslie handed a kite to Amy.
“What’s this for?” Amy questioned.
“If you fly it, you can talk to me. When you run and play, run through the wind with kite and I will be there,” Leslie answered.
The kite was a dazzling blue and pink, Amy’s favorite colors, with golden sparkles making it shine. The rest was a rainbow string. In the center of her kite the Chinese symbol for angel was painted on.
“There is one more thing,” Leslie said. “Everyone you love has been given ribbon to add on the string of the kite. Next time you see them, they will tie it on. Then when you feel in doubt and alone, look at the ribbons and count them up so you know you are loved.”
And with that, Leslie flew away.
People added on to Amy’s kite. And Amy flew her kite every once and a while when she was out of the hospital. On those days where she went to the doctors for check ups to see if she was alright, she flew her kite. And despite the mean words she sometimes got, she knew nothing in the world could bring her down.
-Friends, thank you for blessing this precious family with your loving prayers and comments today.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16
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