Hope

Hope - It looks so different depending on your life circumstances. This week I saw what hope looked like to my brother and his family. His daughter, my niece, has severe food allergies. She is deathly allergic to peanuts and has at least 15 other known food allergies (wheat, dairy, soy, all meats, glutens, and tree nuts, and others I can't recall). They've been faced with the reality that she will be going to school soon. Being an educator, I know my school and district take extreme precautions for severe food allergies & health concerns. But I can't guarantee that of my niece's school district. Needless to say, we are all very worried for the day she goes to kindergarten and her well being when away at school. This past week they tried an alternative treatment with acupressure and computer simulated allergin tests. The treatments went very well and will hopefully lessen the severity of her allergies over time. Anyway, they stopped by on their way home. I've never seen my brother so hopeful. After four long years and bad news after bad news of worsening allergies and new allergies cropping up all the time, he finally has hope that maybe his daughter can someday eat more foods and suffer less. I hope this, too.