Letters to Ann

Dear Ann,

I told you about my little friend, Emma, whom I have never met, but because of the cancer she has endured I have felt an infinity with her; praying for her constantly that she will have a full recovery so that she can go to school & have some little girl friends.

Because of her illness, which has been in & out of hospital all of her young life & little contact with the outside world she has not been able to mix with people at all. She, therefore has never known what it is like to play with other little girls & their dolls.

I never realised what this non contact has meant to her until her Auntie Trudy actually mentioned the fact that she has been robbed of this in her early years. I had not realised the magnitude of what little contact with the outside world really meant.

Because of the strong feeling I have for Emma I believe that some close friends of mine are also praying for her, as I am.

A few months ago Emma’s Mum took her to a shopping centre very early in the morning hoping her condition had improved a little. Not many others were really about, but little Emma was violently ill & ended up in hospital again.

I only mention this incident to illustrate how her life has been. Even young cousins her own age will not go near her for fear of making her ill. They all understand so I am praying with faith that our prayer group will make a difference.

Three weeks ago (as I write this) Emma had her sixth birthday. My friend, Pat who frequents the same hair salon, told me that she had seen Emma on video singing a special song she loved & how sad it was at the end.

Needless to say when I got to the hair salon later that week the first thing I asked Trudy if she have that video of Emma that I had heard about. Indeed she did & explained to me before she played it what transpired on Emma’s birthday.

She couldn’t have anyone to the celebration of her special day, but she had a birthday cake. Trudy showed me photos of Emma with her cake. All little girls these days want to be famous & Emma is no different so her parents gave her a really upmarket microphone.

Emma

I saw the video of Emma laying on her side as she sang one of her favourite songs right through. She knew all the words. It is called ‘The Climb’ & is about problems placed in front of us which appear like mountains to climb & how difficult the climb is. This is what Emma sang:

I can almost see it, that dream I am dreaming but there’s a voice inside my head saying “You will never make it.”
Every step I’m takin’, Every move I’m makin’ seems lost with no direction, my faith is shakin’.
But I, I gotta keep tryin’ Gotta keep my head held high.

There’s always gonna be another mountain, I’m always gonna want to make it move,
Always gonna be an uphill battle, Sometimes I gonna have to lose.
Ain’t about how fast I get there, Ain’t about what’s on the other side , It’s the climb.

The struggles I’m facing, the chances I’m talkin’ sometimes might knock me down
But no, I’m not breakin,
I may not know it but these are the moments that I’m gonna remember most, yeah.,
just gotta keep goin’ And I, I gotta be strong, I gotta be just pushin’ on. Cause….

There’s always goona be another mountain, I’m always gonna want to make it move,
Always gonna be an uphill battle, Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose.
Ain’t about how fast I get there, Ain’t abut what’s on the other side. It’s the climb. Yeah.

There’s always gonna be another mountain, I am always gonna want to make it move.
Always gonna be an uphill battle, Somebody’s gonna have to lose.
Ain’t about how fast I get there, Ain’t about what’s on the other side. It’s the climb.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep on movin, keep climbin’ Keep the faith baby,
It’s all about, it’s all about the climb.
Keep the faith, keep your faith, Whoah, whoah, Oh.

Emma knew every word to this song & what is more important she is old enough to understand the meaning of it all. What was so touching in the video is that when she finished singing it & she sang it beautifully, with her two index fingers she wiped away two tears from her eyes. I think anyone watching her would do the same, including me.

So her Mum & Dad told her on her birthday that they are putting her performance on YouTube & she will be famous!

I walked away from the salon after watching this with a heart full of love for that little girl. Then a little miracle happened. I heard Trudy calling me urgently as I walked down to my car & I turned around wondering. Trudy said ‘It’s Emma, she’s here.”

My heart leapt & I raced back. You will never guess my first words, “Oh I can have my photo taken with her?” Stupid me, I realised what I had said immediately & no way that could happen so Trudy’s daughter, Courtney, took my camera & took some photos of Emma for me.

I was so grateful as I was so emotional at actually seeing & meeting Emma that I am sure I would not have done them justice.

What had happened immediately after I left the salon was that Emma’s grandma arrived taking her for a short walk complete with mask over her mouth so she would not pick up germs. Emma did pull the mask off for a couple of moments as she was sitting on the seat on the footpath & later donned it to take her dollies for a walk in their pram.

Emma takes her dollies for a walk.

Would you believe that I almost didn’t need the car to drive home as I was almost floating on air & at that point the whole world was bright & beautiful.

I heard later that Emma was very tired after her outing, but did not have any side effects to put her in hospital again.

And more good news came when I had my hairdo yesterday. The doctors have said that Emma can have a little party & ask two guests to be present. She has now progressed to being able to walk into a cake shop to purchase a cake & things like that.

Her Mum took her into a florist’s shop in the past week & Emma immediately asked the florist “Have you been sick?” She is so used to the fact that she can’t get near anyone who may have germs.

My little prayer group are very happy with this great step forward where little Emma is concerned & all I can think of is that faith can remove mountains!

God Bless you. My love always, Dawn X O X O