Tag Archives: Siblings

Day 1060: Happy Birthday Kevin

To the outside world we all grow old.
But not to brothers and sisters.
We know each other as we always were.
We know each other’s hearts.
We share private family jokes.
We remember family feuds and secrets,
family griefs and joys.
We live outside the touch of time.
-Clara Ortega

It’s 12 : 03 PM on day 1060 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Bran Flakes and peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, read Judges 19, publish my Disability of the Day feature, pray, tweet and Facebook about my campaign – I think it was Albert Einstein who once said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result I’m beginning to wonder if I’m persistent or just insane please God help me raise the $250 more I need to reach goal – and make sandwiches as part of Virginia’s Sandwich Run with our housekeeper’s help – I think about Virginia a lot especially when I’m making sandwiches for the kids in our current housekeeper’s neighborhood she was such an awesome human being she loved my family as much as she loved her own.

Today is a big day at our house my baby brother turns 13 I can hardly believe it I still remember the first time I held him he was wearing a light blue baby outfit and I was sitting on a dark blue pushchair. Happy Birthday Kevin may you always be sweet, kind and compassionate.

Day 867

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Life is a process of letting go –that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 12 : 50 AM on day 867 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to pray, read Genesis 41, publish my Disability of the Day feature and publish my Kid of the Week feature.

This morning we – my mother, father and I – are travelling to Cape Town which is about one thousand kilometres away from here to drop my sister off at the University of Cape Town where she will be studying medicine for the next six years it’s going to be different not having my sister around the house but she’s her own person, I’m my own person and although we’ll still be each other’s biggest cheerleader both of us have our own lives. Have you had to let go of people you love to enable them to learn and grow?

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 779

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Family is really like fudge …often sweet with a few nuts – that’s what I keep learning 🙂

It’s 4 : 20 PM on day 779 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself All Bran Flakes for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, work – today’s my last day Alice Pyne – a 16-year-old who’s dying of cancer inspired me to quit life’s too short to do something you sort of like doing I’m going to focus on becoming more independent and blogging full time I want to prevent special needs parents from making the same mistakes my parents made with me – help out my friend and watch TV.

Today is crazy at our house both my sister and my brother didn’t go to school – my sister only has to go to school when she has an exam this being her final high school exams and my brother wanted to stay home and study for his Social Studies test – and although they drive me crazy and irritate me sometimes having them here makes me realize I wouldn’t choose a life without them in it even if I could I know that me having Cerebral Palsy hasn’t been easy for them either but they’re hanging in there with me I am BEYOND GRATEFUL for that. Do you appreciate your family for who and what they are?

I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.

Day 428

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Pretty much all the honest truth telling in the world is done by children.
— Oliver Wendell

It’s 7: 06 PM on day 428 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck today but Michael (@USMMariner) made a donation of $50 yesterday (it’s the second time he’s donated) – thanks Michael 🙂 – prepare and publish my Disability of the Day feature, listen to music, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV, feed myself spaghetti with sauce for dinner– I did it with a fork made a bit of a mess but nonetheless I am proud of myself 🙂 – and brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday my siblings and I were discussing sleeping arrangements – my sister moved to my brother’s room for the duration of her exams and now wanted to sleep there even after her exams were over – my sister said to my brother who wanted his room back after her exams you can move back in two years after I’m gone to which he said then I’ll have to move back here – the room I slept in (my mother has this crazy idea that someone always has to sleep in the same room with me how old does think I am five I may not to be able to do much physically but I am an adult) – which is when I interjected and asked my brother what makes you think I’ll still be here he replied you’ll be here until I leave and although I was taken aback by his brutal honest I REALLY appreciated it because the rest of my family just dance around the subject of my future they’ve made no secret of the fact that they expect nothing of me – my parents frequently say our money is your money because they don’t believe I will be able to provide for myself and be a contributing member of society (they are going to be VERY surprised). Have the children in your life said things that you wouldn’t dare say?

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 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

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 342

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You can’t make choices for anyone else – that’s what I learned today.

It’s 7: 47 PM on day 342 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, sleep some more, feed myself corn flakes for breakfast, publish my Kid of the Week feature, finish reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini – a book about extraordinary love and sacrifice I would recommend it to anyone who needs perspective – feed myself rice and curry for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

This morning we were discussing what we were going to eat for breakfast and I almost had a heart attack when my sister said she was making hamburgers and putting an egg on top of it – my brother is 17kg’s overweight according to his pediatrician – but after much begging, pleading and suggesting alternative foods I realized that he was going to have to make the decision to lose weight by himself so although I feel like I’m watching a train crash in slow motion I’m going to back off. Do you sometimes wish you could make choices for those you love?

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

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 330

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Kids notice things that we overlook – that what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 29 PM on day 330 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself toast, scrambled eggs and sausages for brunch, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – Debbie (@MissShuganah) made a donation yesterday and my aunty and uncle made a second donation today only $1 912.10 more to raise to reach my goal I am SO happy 🙂 – watch TV, feed myself steamed vegetables for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Last night my siblings and I were watching the seven o’ clock news on which they featured a story about the good work that doctors were doing in Somalia and my brother (who just turned eleven yesterday) said something along the lines of how come they always mention the doctors what about his team what about the nurses the nurses who took care of me (he was in hospital a couple of days ago) weren’t that bad and because I know that what he said was (and still is) so true I would like to say to all the nurses out there I SO appreciate what you do particularly with today being Women’s Day in South Africa I know that most of you are overworked and underpaid but without the healthcare sector would be on its knees so please keep doing what you’re doing and know that your work has value. Have the words of a child made you more appreciative of the people around you?

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

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 326

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Every experience that comes to you is an opportunity to birth your divinity. – Richard H. Levy

It’s 7: 49 PM on day 326 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, read Sorta Crunchy on Bringing the Sunshine– a fun blog post about how far is too far when it comes to going green – feed myself an avocado sandwich for breaKfast, listen to music, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – feed myself naarjies – [plural of naarjie] a n orange like fruit that is unique to South Africa– for lunch, watch TV, feed myself steamed vegetables for dinner, brush my teeth once more and watch some more TV.

Yesterday – I can’t believe I actually going to write this but if it helps someone it will be worth it – I asked my father to take the heater in our room – the room that my sister and I share – and put in my our brother’s room and he in turn asked my sister to do it and her being the smartass that she is brought the wrong heater and made some comment which rubbed my father up the wrong way and ended up in her getting a beating which left her hyperventilating with a red mark on her arm and although I wouldn’t wish that on anyone when she came back to our room in tears I realized that regardless of how you are abused the end result is that you feel like you are not worthy I knew that because every time my father said I should sit in the car while the rest of them went shopping or visiting I felt like he was engraving on my heart you are not good enough. Has a horrible experience taught you something that you would otherwise never know?

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

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 324

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Success is relative – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 8: 34 PM on day 324 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a banana for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – uncle Gopan – a comunity member of ours who I recognize if I meet him in person – made a donation – peel and feed myself naarjies – [plural of naarjie] a n orange like fruit that is unique to South Africa– for lunch, watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for dinner and brushh my teeth once more.

Yesterday while my mom and I were talking I suggested to her that she keep my brother at home from school for one more day just to be cautious – he had just returned home from a four day hospital stint on Monday – and she just came at me saying let him go what will I do if all my children end up like you in that moment it occurred to me that I wasn’t nor would I ever be successful in my mother’s eyes and strangely enough I was fine with that because regardless of what I go through every day I make it a point to put a smile on my face and be of service to others and that in my book makes me a success. Do you consider someone to be unsuccessful because they don’t fit into the box that you’ve created?

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

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 320

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Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s 8: 07 PM on day 320 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, go visit my brother in hospital – we spent a few hours there feeding him and keeping him comppany while my mother came home to rest during that time church folk came with toys and sang Jesus Loves Me which I thought scared rather than comforted him I think it really made him feel like there was something wrong with him – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck today but AquaTerra Fund – a focused carve out of the existing Agriculture, Water andNatural Resources portfolios originated from the the multi strategy Earth Wind & Fire Fund – made a donation yesterday – thanks Annic – one of the heads of the funds – feed myself rice and curry for dinner and watch TV.

As you may or may not know my brother has been in hospital since Thursday and although this has been the worst thing that has ever happened to me – including my back surgery – I have learned that charity begins at home – I cannot tell you how many times I have told my brother that I was too busy to play with him because I was trying to change the world only now I understand that I could have changed the world just by making him feel special which is why I will drop everything I’m doing – regardless of how important it is – when my brother comes home and asks to play with me. Do you waste bad times wallowing in self-pity or use them to become a better human being?

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

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!