Drinking from a Cup

Today's gift is drinking from a cup.

Holding your own cup and drinking from it is something we all take for granted....every day.  We just do it without thinking about it.

However, to some people, like my daughter with Rett Syndrome drinking from a cup on her own is a skill which took a long time to gain and she could still struggle with it.  Some people can not hold their own cup and may never gain this skill.

She mastered this skill again after her regression period of Rett Syndrome many years ago and it is something she does every day now.  But for some reason today seeing her grab, hold, drink from her cup and then place it down again, hit me a little harder.  Meaning, how something so simple requires her to work really hard to master the task.

At the same time I'm feeling a little sad for her, (as she should be able to do everything freely if Rett never entered her life), I'm so excited for her....excited because she can drink from a cup.  All. By. Herself!

When someone you love faces challenges...daily...you realize everything they can do is a gift.  Everything they can do requires hard work from them.  Everything they can do we take for granted.

The next time you drink from a cup think about the 12 year old girl who is still trying hard to learn this skill, or the 23 year old woman who will never be able to hold her own cup or the 10 month old little girl who is able to hold her bottle now, but whose parents haven't found out yet their daughter has Rett Syndrome (as signs haven't started to appear yet) and one day she will lose this skill. Any one of the situations could happen and do happen daily in the world of Rett Syndrome.

Here is a quote for today...

The things you take for granted someone else is praying for- Author Unknown