A beautiful thing ...

Last Sunday I was spending the day with my kids, my daughter is 23 and my son is 19. My daughter was recently diagnosed with Epilepsy, a condition that has changed her life in ways she never could have contemplated as a young vibrant adult. But with the first seizure, she was in an instance transformed in ways that the healthy can only imagine. She lost her right to drive and with it her sense of independence, she lost her youthful notion of invincibility, and perhaps worst of all she lost her previous sense of self. As you can imagine it's proving a challenge for her to come to terms with her new reality. She will of course in time adjust, she is at her roots, strong willed and equally determined, but for this moment she is reeling and vulnerable.

Up until this point I hadn't seen an actual episode. On Sunday I would be treated to 12 separate seizures over an 11 hour period. It's disturbing and sobering to watch your baby, or anyone for that matter, go through such an ordeal. But I witnessed something else, something incredibly moving and reassuring for any parent. I watched my son look after his sister. I watched him cradle her head in his hands as she convulsed, all the while soothing her and reassuring her as she returned from confusion. He was tender, kind and focussed on her and her needs. It was a beautiful thing to see. It was reassuring to know that she could count on him. It brought me back to their childhood days, watching them play together, laugh together, when she played the protective big sister and he the happy side kick. There were years in between where it seemed they had taken separate paths ... now here they were again, sharing and caring.

Love is a beautiful thing, when given so freely and without conditions.