Dystrophy Dadvent 2

I can’t celebrate one of the great loves of my life without celebrating the other. Today’s post is dedicated to my daughter.

She’s now a teen. Before that she was a hope, a dream, but one it seemed would never come true. We tried for years, both being diagnosed with medical reasons that conception was all but impossible.

We went on holiday just before our IVF date, and the week before that date, learned we were to be parents. She’s nothing short of a miracle who continues to amaze me.

From those early days when the world was new, to this very day when she seems to know everything, except what 6-7 actually means, she consistently makes me proud.

To my delight she has much of my music taste, partly because her lullabies were songs from the Final Fantasy series.

I’ve watched her grow, marvelling at all she does as time has flown. I remember those first steps, the times you’d fall asleep on my knee (making it a challenge to push a wheelchair), and the times you’d sit on my knee as we went down hills in the park at speed.

One particularly strong memory was the day you learned that you are a carrier of BMD.

That was an emotional day, involving a beach, a dog shit in the sand that made us leave the beach, a bench by a harbour, ice cream and tears. But you told me that you felt this made us closer and that your tears were happy. I hold on to that and think of it often.

You are considerate and kind, you make us proud and you are loved.

I’ve no doubt she’ll read this. My only hope is that the words above don’t come as a surprise.