Hi, my name is Caroline and someday I will be able to write this letter myself but until then I need people like my Pop Pop Phil.  I don’t remember much because I was only 10 months old, but I heard it was a very scary day that turned our whole family up side down.   On February 7th, 2003, my Mom, Dad, and me and also our two dogs Sam and Chloe got into Mommy’s car to spend the day at my Mom-Mom’s house around the corner from my Dad’s work.  It snowed that day and my Dad was going to work for a few hours in the afternoon after the roads were cleared.  We dropped Dad off and then started off to my Mom-Mom’s only two miles away.  Like I said, I was only 10 months old so I don’t remember anything and my Mom was hurt really bad so she doesn’t either, but they said a trash truck splashed a huge pile of slush and snow onto my mom’s windshield causing her to loose control of the car.  After that we were hit from the side, my side of the car, by an small pick-up truck.  That’s the moment everything changed for my whole family and especially me.  Though I’m not sure what a spinal cord is, they tell me I had a C1-C2 spinal cord distraction and that’s why I have this ventilator and wheel chair to get around.  They also tell me it’s miracle that I’m even here today, but thanks to some really nice police officers my Mommy and me are still here for my Daddy to kiss and hug.  He’s always kissing and hugging me and my little sister Jillian.  My Mommy had a bad head injury that left her in a coma for 18 days and she had to learn how to walk all over again.  I spent seven months in the hospital where I got stronger. My Dad and both of my Mom-Moms learned everything they needed to know to take care of me at home.

Since I’ve been home I had to go back to the hospital a whole bunch of times for Urinary Tract Infections and Pneumonia, what ever they are, and get stuck with needles and have all these doctors standing around my bed talking about things I don’t understand and looking at me.  Sometimes I just try and stay awake until I get home because it’s not much fun when I’m there.  When I’m home we have a lot of fun watching movies and reading books but there’s always someone coming over and making me do these yucky exercises.  When it’s nice outside I get to go out and learn how to drive my new power chair.  Mommy says I’m not allowed to drive it inside yet because I might crash though the walls.  

In September of 2007 I started going to kindergarten on a school bus and I love it. I’m showing everybody how smart I am.  I have learned my colors. I can count, add and even subtract a little.  Even though a nurse travels along with me, she lets me do my own thing when I get to school. Now I’m in First grade and still loving school.

All this requires a lot of physical therapy and hard work – something I didn’t understand back when I was ten months old. Thanks to all of you and the constant encouragement of my mom and dad, grandparents, nurses and therapists, I’m making real progress.  But there are some things that could make my life easier. 

Someday, I want to breathe on my own without using the ventilator.

Someday, I want to eat food like other kids and get rid of the feeding tube.

Someday, I want to enjoy ice cream and other goodies.

Someday, I will get up and walk just like my sister Jillian.

Someday, I plan to talk – something that is almost impossible with the trach in my throat.