Hello, all,
I'm a (very!) infrequent poster to this site (but a newly-minted subscriber!). According to my own account page, I've published three (bad) diaries and commented frequently. Fair enough. I'm posting now not on my own behalf but for someone else, for some people who could use some help.
My wife is a sign language interpreter (I met her as a barista, and noticed her when she was holding a conversation, in sign, via webcam in one corner of the cafe). Empathy is one of her strongest traits and she's been brought to tears by the events in one of her friends' lives.
The friend (whom I've never met--she hails from an earlier chapter of my wife's life) is named Alexis Wesley, is happily married and has a beautiful young daughter named Laelia. Laelia shows all the will and intelligence and happiness you could hope for in your own child.
Laelia also has arthrogryposis, a rare condition of uknown cause which severely limits muscle growth and can greatly inhibit joint flexibility. For Laelia, recently turned 4, now to walk with braces on her legs is something of a miracle, and a testament to the power of loving and committed parenting.
For Alexis has done an astounding job of coaching and rehabilitation at home, feeding her daughter nothing but love, positive thoughts and encouragement, while driving her to exercise and use her limbs. We all owe much to our parents, but in Laelia's case, she will owe so much more than most. Being the father of a daughter and son myself, I can only shake my head in admiration at the work Alexis and her husband Charles have done. They have a blog which chronicles Laelia's progress and life:
Laelia Sky's Story
Alexis and Charles would now like to adopt. They've found a boy (they're calling him Joel for now) in eastern Europe...and the boy also has arthrogryposis.
If Alexis and Charles' work with their own daughter didn't amaze me enough, hearing that from my wife nearly made me sink to my knees. It is so incredibly heroic, on so many levels, that I have trouble even thinking about it. Not only simply adopting--itself a long, expensive, and nerve-wracking process--but looking for a child with the same illness as their own. They're more than doubling their own work.
But they're also giving that very rarest of things to children who have some kind of condition which isolates them from other kids, and makes them different. They're giving both Laelia and Joel a sense of community. First-hand knowledge of and time with another kid who's in the same boat. By taking on the work, the medical expenses, and the emotional heartbreak of shepherding a child with disabilities through an increasingly harsh world, they are making their daughter's life, and Joel's, immeasurably richer.
They already have a blog up about their hoped-for addition:
Joel's Story
The problem is, they don't have a lot of money (who among us 99% does?). My wife is trying to organize a fundraiser for them, and I thought I might help by publishing their story and inviting any interested Kossacks to contribute. Every dollar helps. Even if you only read about Alexis and Charlie and Laelia and Joel, you'll have a bit more insight into what some of your fellow humans are doing.
But I do earnestly hope you'll be able to give something. I can't think of a worthier cause.