She is the super girl who pushes me to be a better mother. She has a Mona Lisa smile that melts my heart every single time. And even though she cannot speak or hold my hand I know that she knows who I am. She is the biggest blessing God has ever given me.
It has been 8 years since she came into our lives. And what a ride it has been. The arrival of your first child always turns your world upside down. For Dinesh and me, Diyanna’s arrival became a bit more than just our worlds turning upside down. She completely stripped us of our egos, our plans that we had made in our head and remade us into the family we are today.
She was sent by God to remind us that we do not control life and that our destiny is vastly different from what we had planned for ourselves. She was our calling to step up to be better people. She is our test of Faith.
At the start of this journey, I questioned God’s existence but now I can say that he (or she) does exist because of everything that has happened so far. God has watched over not only Diyanna but all of us and has guided and provided us in so many ways.
The path that we walk with Diyanna is not easy. It is extremely hard, emotionally draining and heart breaking. With acceptance and over time this has become ‘our’ normal. Diyanna is our calling and if we do everything right by her all-other things fall into place in right time.
Everything that we have today is because of Diyanna. From the strength in our marriage, the births of Gabriella and Macario, the home and the suburb we live in, the support network we have and to the paths in our professional life have all been because of Diyanna.
Our lives are not perfect. Yes, we still have no cure for her, she still has multiple medical complications, we do not do a lot of things that normal families do and yes, we have had to make many sacrifices but through it all we have been and are so very blessed to have Diyanna in our lives.
Two years ago, we almost lost her to a lung infection that would not go away. Yesterday they did a CT scan which showed that the abscess which had taken over most of her right lung had completely disappeared leaving very minor scar tissue and a few enlarged air ways.
This year she has started going to school two days a week and seems to be enjoying her time in the classroom with other children of her age.
She also on stage for the first time ever this year where her class represented Brazil for Harmoney day. The stage has been part of my life growing up and seeing Diyanna on that stage having fun made me cry. I never thought she would be able to or could be a part of something like that.
Diyanna also had her first ever bus ride and school excursions.
She has also started to communicate through guestures using her arms and eyes to respond to questions with yes or no answers.
This little blessing is turning 8 today. Another year that we have been gifted by her presence. She has become a sassy, strong-willed and beautiful little girl who is out to prove everyone wrong. I could not be prouder of her.
Diyanna's Gene 
Leave a comment