Tag Archives: Parents

Day 2008: My Parents, The Real Stars of my Story

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The love of parents is the truest love of all  – that’s what I keep realizing.

 

It’s 12 : 17 PM on day 2008 of my journey towards independence and I managed to pray, read 1 Peter 1,  learn one new thing –Bones, stop growing after puberty and muscle and fat cells also stop dividing. But cartilage – that’s the plastic-like stuff in ears and noses – cartilage continues to grow until the day you die. Not only does cartilage grow, but the earlobes elongate from gravity.–have breakfast and work on my 25 Smiles Campaign – raised $3 312 only $2 938 more to raise by 10 Jan 2017  (SO SO SO GRATEFUL to everyone who has supported this campaign so far :)  ).

 

This morning I was thinking how sad it was that most people will never get to meet my parents, the real stars of my story, people see what I do but nobody sees my father who wakes me up every morning, puts me in my wheelchair and gives me water or my mother who sometimes has to take leave from work to stay with me because our housekeeper didn’t show up for work…nobody sees that but really behind this girl who aspires to be great are two extraordinary parents who love all their children with everything they have I hope one day I will love humanity the way my parents love me and my siblings. To mommy and daddy (dad I know you will see this because you’re always stalking me on Facebook LOL and for once I’m grateful because it will spare me the embarrassment of having to send you a link to this post): It’s not anybody’s birthday or anniversary but I just wanted you both to know that I appreciate the things you do for all three of us every day because of the two of you I know that love is a verb.

Day 1965: 3 Sayings from my parents to build a life on

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You never know how right your parents were until you grow up – that’s what I’ve realized.

 

It’s 12 : 57 PM on day 1965 of my journey towards independence and I managed to pray, read Colossians 2, learn one new thing –Popcorn is a special kind of corn. Of all the types of corn, popcorn is the only variety that pops. Inside each kernel of popcorn is a tiny droplet of water surrounded by a hard shell called a hull. As the popcorn is heated, the water turns into steam, which builds pressure inside the kernel.– go to church – the sermon was titled “A Man Named Andrew” and was about (you guessed it) the disciple Andrew and how he served in the background without expecting anything in return (that sermon makes me think of my friends Catherine Constantinides,   Brent Lindeque and  Sebastian Schütte they do so much for so many people and expect nothing in return (sometimes I think they are a figment of my imagination thankfully for humanity they really do exist)) –  have breakfast  and work on my  25 Smiles Campaign –raised $1 616 so far only $4 634 more to raise by 10 Jan 2017  (SO GRATEFUL to everyone who has supported this campaign so far:) ).

 

Today I took the liberty of writing down all the things that my parents said to me growing up that I apply to my life right now (I hope my parents don’t read this it’s evidence that I actually listen when they speak LOL 🙂 ). Take a look:

3 Sayings from my parents to build a life on

  1. Everything that has come is for the best and everything that will come is for the best – mom always says this in times of uncertainty.
  2. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – my dad always says this in a financial context but I think it applies to other areas of life as well (it’s always a good idea to have a Plan B).
  3. Obedience is better than sacrifice – it’s my dad’s go-to line when we are reluctant to do what he tells us to.

Day 1778: The Love of Parents

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“Our parents deserve our honor and respect for giving us life itself. Beyond this they almost always made countless sacrifices as they cared for and nurtured us through our infancy and childhood, provided us with the necessities of life, and nursed us through physical illnesses and the emotional stresses of growing up.” – Ezra Taft Benson

 

It’s 12 : 01  PM on day 1778 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Matthew 10, publish my Disability of the Day feature,    learn one new thing – Truncate [trun·cate] tr.v. 1. To shorten or cut off. 2. To shorten (a number) by dropping one or more digits after the decimal point. – have breakfast and promote my Educate Generations campaign – $3 372 raised so far (thanks all)

 

This morning I woke up feeling nauseous and eventually threw up (too much information, I know and I’m sorry) God bless my parents they were up with me at 4 AM holding my head into a bucket I can’t imagine loving other people so much that no task would be too disgusting. Thanks mommy and daddy for being there for me through thick, thin and everything in-between I sincerely appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Day 1718: Lessons I Learned From My Parents

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“No matter how far we come, our parents are always in us.”-Brad Meltzer

 

It’s 12 :  00 PM on day 1718 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, pray,  read Joel 3, publish my Disability of the Day feature, learn one new thing  –Abalone shells are the earliest known containers. In Blombos Cave in South Africa, scientists found evidence that as long as 100,000 years ago the cave’s inhabitants had stored a paste of ground ocher and other ingredients, used as decorative paint, in abalone shells.  – feed myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich  for breakfast, watched a few episodes of Oprah’s new shows – I LOVE LOVE LOVE what Bishop T.D. Jakes said those who can’t be broken can’t be blessed it’s so true some of the greatest blessings in my life has come as a result of my brokenness –    and promote my Educate Generations campaign– $3 000 raised so far (thanks again everyone :)) .

 

Yesterday after reading What my parents taught me about parenting :: a new series by Sarah Bessey I was inspired to write down some of the lessons that my parents have taught me. Take a look:

 

Lessons I Learned From My Parents

 

From my father I learned:

  1. Self-acceptance
  2. Humility (my father always says the people who have money don’t go around telling people they have money)
  3. The value of money (from a very young age my father taught me and my siblings the importance of saving and perhaps because of that I don’t spend a lot of money on clothes, make-up or the latest gadgets (I do spend money on healthy food, books and other people [if I truly believe that money can help someone in need in some way I will gladly beg and borrow to make sure they have it]))

 

From my mother I learned:

  1. Faith (my mother has a faith in God that is off-the-charts it’s really incredible to witness sometimes I think she could put Catholic nuns to shame LOL)
  2. Love (I know I didn’t turn out exactly  the way my mother thought (and maybe even hoped) I would but she loves me anyway)
  3. Strength (I will never forget sitting in our car waiting to be admitted into the hospital for my back surgery I asked my mother am I going to die? to which she replied in her mother tongue of Malayalam no, my daughter, no looking back I realize there was no way on earth she could have known what would happen but she called on a strength somewhere in herself and told me what she knew I needed to hear)   
  4. It’s never too late to learn something new (my mother learned how to drive in her mid-30s now she can go anywhere by herself I’m so proud of her)

 

 

To mommy and daddy (if you are reading this): Thank you so much for all that you have done (and continue to do) for me everything that I am (and ever will be) I owe to God and the two of you.

Day 1057: Knowing there’s nothing wrong with you

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Know that there’s nothing wrong with no matter what anybody else says– that’s what I keep learning.

It’s 12  : 27 PM on day 1057 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to   pray, read Judges 16,   publish my Disability of the Day feature,  brush my teeth,  take off my jacket and t–shirt and put a clean t-shirt on,   feed myself  All Bran Flakes for breakfast,        tweet about my campaign –  no one made a donation so far today –   practice sitting up straight to strengthen my core muscles and go to the doctor – a wound on my toe become infected and now I’m on two antibiotics and my foot is bandages up *joy*.

Yesterday afternoon my dad was talking to someone and he said I have three children [my first daughter] is not well my parents are loving and devoted but I could find a cure for AIDS and they would still refer to me as their eldest daughter who is not well it hurts but I know there’s nothing wrong with me and I understand that my parents only see me this way because they grew up in India where “disabled” people are seen as broken people with nothing to contribute to the world. Do you know that there’s nothing wrong with you regardless of what anybody else says?

Day 394

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Feeling guilty about things you cannot control can destroy you – that’s what I learned today 🙁

It’s 7: 11 PM on day 394 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself banana for breakfast, cry for a while–see why in the next paragraph – publish my Disability of the Day feature–I prepared it yesterday night – Facebook about my Clean Water For All Campaign – I scheduled some tweets for Twitter last night so I decided to focus on Facebook still no luck – rest for a while – I didn’t get enough sleep last night because I was up almost until midnight scheduling tweets for Twitter– feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV, feed myself yoghurt for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Today while my mother was trying to comb my sister’s hair she – my sister – said you didn’t take care of me when I was two so don’t try to take care of me now and as if to make me feel more guilty after she left for school my mother said she’s right I didn’t give her much care you were there and then Kevin was born which made me burst out into tears because I’ve always felt guilty about the fact that my sister got so little attention from my parents but now I realize that I didn’t ask to be born – yet I was – I didn’t ask to have Cerebral Palsy – yet I do – and I didn’t ask for my parents to give me more attention than they did my sister and brother – yet they did – that being said I don’t mean to trivialize the pain my siblings feel – you will NEVER hear me say I know they feel because I don’t – and I would like them to know that I’m really trying not to be an inconvenience to anyone in this house – I don’t eat or drink much, I limit my trips to the bathroom, I don’t ask to go anywhere or do anything and I only ask for help when it is absolutely necessary (honestly, do you guys think I would ask you to get the laptop for me if I could do it myself). Are you destroying yourself?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://twitter.com/Nisha360

If you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://bit.ly/hC7vOu

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 193

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If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants. – Sir. Isaac Newton

It’s 11: 35 PM on day 193 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, cut my birthday cake (see pictures below) and feed it to myself while watching the Cricket World Cup match: South Africa vs. New Zealand–we lost and are out of the world cup and of course it stings a little but in the bigger scheme of things it’s just a game … people are dying in Japan – and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – someone who prefers to remain anonymous donated $54.92 – both you and I know who you are thank you for your donation 🙂  

Today being my birthday and all I would like to dedicate this post to:

  • My mother who does things for me that nobody else would do

 

  • My father who has taught me everything I need to know about myself to survive in this world

 

  • My siblings who never complain even when my parents give me more attention just because I am on a wheelchair

 

  • My extended family who show me every day that I am not in this alone

 

  • Virginia – our late housekeeper – who has taught me how to love unconditionally

 

  • Gerda – my physiotherapist – who expects me to go out and do great things in spite of my disability

    

  • Nelson Mandela who has taught me courage of conviction

 

  • Oprah who has taught me that you receive more when you give    

 

The cake

The cake out of the box

 

Me cutting the cake (my eyes appear closed because I am looking down at the cake)

Day 98

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Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.  ~ Elizabeth Stone

It’s 6: 01 PM on day 98 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, sleep until 12 PM – I didn’t get much sleep yesterday due to the fact that I spent most of the night with my head over a bucket puking my guts out – suspected food poisoning  – don’t worry I feel a 100% better now it takes more than a little food poisoning to keep me down LOL 🙂 – finish writing and publishing yesterday’s blog post – I fully intended to publish it yesterday but I thought I would sleep for an hour, wake up, finish write it and publish it but the next time I woke up was at 4 AM this morning with my head over a bucket – suffice to say things didn’t work out  exactly according to plan LOL 🙂 – and drink to glasses of tea all by myself – the next time you feel like vomiting drink black tea without milk and LOTS of sugar – it works 🙂

 I had always thought that wherever happened to me affected no one else but me but yesterday as I was watching my mother hovering over my bed checking to see if I was okay I realized something that I will carry with me for all the days of my life – we are an extension of our parents and they hurt when we hurt – so to all the kids out there please know that whatever your parents do that is offensive to your sensibilities is done out of the best of intentions.