Rebecca

My niece Rebecca is so hilarious. I just love her so much! Today she called me to remind me that her 16th birthday is in 3 weeks. Rebecca is my oldest niece. I was 12 when she was born. 1994 was a hard year for my family. 2 months before Rebecca was born my brother Travis died. We were all still grieving when Rebecca was born… but she brought so much light into the family. Having a niece was so fun for me. I have always loved kids, and I had several baby cousins before Rebecca… but a niece is completely different. My sister, brother-in-law, and Rebecca lived in our basement the first few months of her life. What a wonderful time that was! Rebecca did tend to cry a lot, but I got so close to her during that time.

Rebecca has a genetic disorder called Holoprosencephaly. This disorder happens when the unborn baby’s brain doesn’t grow forward and divide properly during early pregnancy. Kids with Holoprosencephaly don’t have separated brain hemispheres. Because of this, Rebecca has severe learning disabilities and several physical abnormalities. But she is so beautiful and funny and kind and loving!

So, today when Rebecca called me to “remind” me her birthday is in 3 weeks, I couldn’t help but smile. She so desperately wants to be like “the other kids”, and sometimes she is very much a teenager… but sometimes she is such a little girl. Her birthday list proves this! To demonstrate, this is the list:

Jeans (not skinny jeans though)

Mr. Potato Head

Harry Potter books on CD

Play Dough

Legos

Nintendo DS or Digi

Money

Haha, I just love her! She is so tiny, so much smaller than kids her age… but she is so powerful and strong. I can’t believe she is almost 16!!!

Love you Rebecca! :)