Teenagers

Believe it or not, there have been many positive things that have come from our fixator experience but one that I have been deeply touched by are the young adults we have met through this experience or are related to and how wonderful they have been to Mary.

• There is the teenager at the dance studio that volunteered on the spot to help Mary so she could participate in the dance recital. 

• There is the 17 year old high school senior in the neighborhood (now in college) that had a fixator a year ago due to a very bad football injury that came to visit Mary twice this summer and sent her a handwritten postcard when he was in Europe.

• There are the second cousins in Maryland that have handwritten a multitude of letters to both Mary and her little sister during the process and continue to do so. 

• There are the local first cousins that would visit and go swimming with Mary and her sister this summer when they could have been out with their friends.
• And one amazing pen pal (handwritten letters!) in Canada who had a fixator for FH herself 2 times when she was younger. She has been been a wonderful source of knowledge, support, and friendship. She is already a wonderful Child Life Specialist! I can't thank her enough for how much she has helped us!!!

I like easy to read, happy books now a days and picked up Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul III at a Library book sale earlier this year. 

In it was the following poem by Jamie Haskins:

Teenagers Are Amazing

Teenagers Are Amazing,

I wish the world would see,

just how beautiful we are,

how compassionate we can be.

I wish they could take back, 

all the cynical things they've said,

and see how much we shine,

be positive instead.

Remark on our radiant smiles,

and the differences we make,

all of the people our lives touch,

all of the chances that we take.

Notice how we change,

each and every day,

wanting to leave childhood,

yet desperately wanting to stay.

I wish they could remember,

how tough our lives can be,

the promises that are broken,

the violence we see.

Yet still we venture onward,

unsure of where the road may lead,

hoping they will take notice,

hoping they'll take heed,

of the changes that we've made, 

of the power that we hold,

of the wisdom we have hidden, 

of the stories yet untold.

I hope the world will notice,

what some have already seen,

teenagers are amazing,

striving to follow their dreams.