Little Reminders

I have been spending alot of my time lately reflecting on the past, the very distant past.  There must be a reason for my pondering though I'm not really sure about all the 'whys' of it yet.  It's kind of like those days when you think about an old friend and then the next day, they call!  Everyday, a little thought, a phone call, a story, all reminding me of where I've been. 

When I was born, my hips were dislocated in a bad way. Congenital Hips, they called it.  My little baby legs were turned almost backwards.  I was put in some pretty funky braces and then my parents were told the odds of me ever walking again were slim.

Earlier this week, I was helping Shelbie with some things in her studio and found a tote box back in the corner of the basement, sitting all alone.  I opened it up and there on the top were the braces I wore as a baby.  They look more like instruments of torture.  I guess in a lot of ways they were.  They had the foreboding task of turning my hips around.  For months and months, this was the accessory complimenting my little baby girl wardrobe.

The white contraption strapped to my back and my legs went through the little leg holes.  The long red bar screwed in to my orthopedic shoes. I must have had long legs cause that's quite the spread.

My stylish orthopedic shoes

Notice the little screw holes in the bottom of the shoes.

Life was crazy for my family back then.  While I was caught up in this mess, my mom was fighting cancer.  Sometimes, life's like that.  This was my introduction to the medical world.  Sometimes, I think about these early days and the miracle it is that I am walking, even that I could have babies.  It has been a good reminder that a doctor doesn't get the last word, God does. 

Now, when I look at my kids, all the odds they've beaten, I am reminded again that they will live out their days, every one of them and not one day less no matter what the doctors think or how grim it may get.