Eden: Balancing Her Life

I gotta brag about Eden again here for a minute.  This young lady is incredibly driven and hard working.  She's doing awesome at a new school this year, taking her grades and classes seriously, making new friends, and learning to play the cello too.  She is also balancing all her medical stuff with so much patience and acceptance, and now she is a working woman making all kinds of money playing her harp.   She did 8 shows in the month of March!  I tell her often that she needs to give herself a break sometimes to just be a kid and play and break rules and waste time, but she doesn't seem too interested in any of those things.

She had her annual sleep study.  Dad is always her sleep study buddy.  These two have the routine down and though they get woken up pretty early, they both sleep pretty good there.    The results this year weren't great.  She did this sleep study without her CPAP machine and her total sleep disruptions and apnea episodes per hour is going back up.  This indicates she is having more obstruction of her airway, which is not the progress we are hoping to make.  Fortunately, she likes sleeping with her CPAP so that's not going away any time soon.  This will be helpful data for us to take to Cincinnati next month.

I love going to these harp shows with her!  The residents are so sweet and grateful she is there, and Eden is learning to talk with them in a more comfortable way for her.  It's really sweet to watch.  

Sometimes it seems like some of the residents are asleep, but then I'll notice them tapping their toes, or moving their hands to the music.  We have also been to a couple memory care centers and she will have a resident or two who will ask her the same question over and over again, and she just answers it with such grace and love, over and over again.

At this show, this woman was still in her room when Eden got started.  As Eden's show progressed, I noticed her slowly wheeling herself from her room, then into the main living room, and she was spinning in her chair back and forth like she was dancing to the music.  After Eden ended that song, she said hello and welcomed her to the show, then as Eden began to play again, she wheeled herself up really close to Eden and then she finished the show right next to her.  Eden was so sweet and talked with her one on one for a bit.  I love observing Eden grow and learn, and make friends with the residents who are so loving to her.  

Her fingers are also starting to get a little tougher.  She had some raw blisters at first that are now starting to get a little calloused.  The fingers of a real musician!

Eden - I love you.  You have a beautiful soul, and amazing drive to accomplish so much.  I'm so proud of you.  Don't forget to be a kid sometimes though.....  love mom.