An Afternoon with Susanna

Today was family therapy day with Susanna. Daddy, Mama, Becker, Parker and Clay made the trip to Tulsa. After an hour of therapy, Susanna was given a pass to go to Sam’s Club with us. May not sound like much to those you that frequent Sam’s Club, but to Susanna it was a great trip! This was the first outing Susanna has had since she arrived at the RAD unit on January 16th. Susanna enjoyed spending time with her brothers, trying out all the food samples and getting to have a cherry icee. She also enjoyed playing the “I Spy” alphabet game with the boys as we drove back to her “home”. Susanna tried to be on her best behavior and we appreciated the effort she put forth.

On a “how is she really doing note”, Susanna is revealing more and more each day who she really is and how she truly feels out things. She is “acting out” on a regular basis, causing more conflict amongst her peers and neglecting to care for herself , such a brushing her teeth or hair regularly or choosing to get dressed each morning. All of this is okay. Her therapist is glad to see all this coming to the surface so he can discern how to best help her. Things are progressing well, just going to be very slow going.

It will always be both interesting and sad to me that Susanna never inquires about coming home. Unless she is prompted, she doesn’t show any affection to her daddy or me. She rarely inquires about any family member and never asks to talk to anyone when she has opportunity on the phone. It is as if she takes comfort that she has a family who loves her but truly has no need to interact with us. This is the nature of her disorder but is still hard to accept at times. We are so grateful for the wonderful, caring staff that work diligently towards Susanna’s healing day in and day out. God has taken mercy upon Susanna. He has orchestrated the details to give her the best opportunity to heal. We pray earnestly that Susanna will see the need in her life and embrace this gift from God.

We are excited that Susanna has two surprise gifts coming her way. We were able to leave with her therapist gifts to give her on St. Patrick’s Day and Easter Sunday. In our house, any occasion is a good occasion for a gift, so usually we remember most all the holidays in some small way or another. (You might remember from our Valentine’s Day post that frosting St. Patrick’s Day cookies will be on the agenda this year!) It will always be important to us that Susanna knows that she is loved and not forgotten. This year, she will be wearing a head band with two sparkly shamrocks sticking up like antennas for St. Patrick’s Day. Trust me, she is going to love this! For Easter, we filled a basket with things to point her heart to God and remind her that Jesus lives for her and loves her dearly. It is our heart’s desire that both of these gifts bless her and remind her, once again, that her family loves her very much.