Rollerskates, monsters and a wire

Hello! Been the usual busy time with some wonderful magic moments brought to us care of Tara and her gorgeous sisters! Like the afternoon that we were picking up Cassie's camp photos - and a mentally-challenged man chatted away to us. Afterwards Tara said "I feel so sad for people who have something wrong with them." And then she burst out laughing and said "oooh, I've got something wrong with me too...but I don't want anyone to feel sad for me. I'm very happy!" And the conversation evolved over the next few days to the point where she realised that, just like her, most other people with issues are probably happy too and don't want anyone to feel sad for them. And then she pointed out that actually there is no division between people with something wrong with them and those without - because "everyone has something wrong with them, you just can't always see it."

She also had a great conversation about the kids at her old Australian school who "didn't like me and didn't wanna play with me because of my leg" - but she says it all in such a beautiful matter-of-fact way - you can see she didn't take what they thought of her onboard at all - she left their thoughts with them.

At school, the fab and lovely Mrs Donohue asked the class to write a letter about anything that they are currently concerned about. Tara wrote that she actually had no problems of any concern...but that when her dad was a kid he used to be scared of monsters and had to jump from his door onto the bed!

And her tenacity continues. One evening we noticed that LouLou may just fit into Cassie's old rollerskates. And the next night, lo and behold, Tara came rollerskating down the corridor in her PJs - she'd secretly gone and put them on. Scary but fab! And she's still tryna master tennis (with the most patient dad in the world)!

Other news - I was invited to do a speech about South Africa for the local Rotary Club and sooooo would've normally said 'no thanks' - but after the experiences this year with these 3 little girls - Cassie with her French speech, Tara with her speech to the Premier, and Jadie mastering her Evonne Goolagong speech - I was inspired by them to also lift my level! And - with a HUGE thanks to Kim S. and Melanie W. (and Alex & Stu for their Aussie support!) - I managed to pull it off. Whew! Could NOT have done it without you guys! The girls were SO excited with the certificate I received afterwards - just like theirs.

We had a lovely surprise this weekend when Tara's other Godmother - Phil - came up from Melbourne (pictured here...with sunnies as big as Tara's!) - fabalicious. And most exciting news is that Tara may get her new leg tomorrow!!!!! Altho' we won't let her start wearing it till next week - coz she and Jadie have an overnight school camp this week, so best to keep it simple with old LouLou. The school's been amazing at ensuring the facilities will be suitable for Tarakie - a chair in the shower (so she's not sitting on the floor like she does at home) etc etc. So funny actually coz one of the help groups - Montrose or something - called us to enquire about Tara. They're a group who assist people with amputations etc. Anyway - after all the questions - they called us back 2 days later to say they will not be offering any assistance to Tara coz she's "not bad enough" - and it was so weird coz it still feels like you're being rejected...even tho' of course you're so glad that Tara's considered so normal that she doesn't need help!

Still no news about whether Tara's one of the kids with a wire left near her heart. Frustrating. Many phone calls. But still no answers. Oh dear - in the 15 minutes since I typed this - we've had a phone call from the Brisbane Royal Children's to say Tara did have that particular catheter in her arm. So she'll have to be x-rayed to see if she has the wire lodged inside her BUT the good news is that so far the children from Royal Children have been okay. Still not nice tho'. You get that nervous feeling. Argh! Small prayers please! Will keep you posted...if she does have it tho', it should be ok - just a small op to remove it. Happy Week Everyone!