Ashton and her Nana
I have a 4-year-old granddaughter with a disease called Niemann Pick Type C. She was born with this disease. Not much is known about it. If you choose to investigate it, you’ll discover that it’s terminal. Most children don’t live past four years old.
Enough of the negative, our family is truly blessed! Ashton is the first child to be treated with some existing drugs that we are praying will make a positive difference in our battle with this disease. There are good days and bad days. Some days, if you weren’t aware of it, you wouldn’t know she had a problem at all! On our worst days, she is so off-balance that she struggles to walk across the room and thus sets the stage for the greatest attitude adjustment I have ever received…
My daughter, Laurie, had told me that Ashton was to be fitted for some foot and ankle braces. It was no big deal, they would fit in her shoes and be covered up with her socks. Her feet would look big, but I was okay with that. She also had to get a walker. It was just something to use when we were out. It would make going to the mall easier, and we love going to the mall!
The day of her appointment at Children’s Hospital was rushed. I had to work and didn’t go with them. Not long after getting home, I looked out the back door and saw Laurie, her husband Chris, Ashton, and my youngest granddaughter, Emily, pulling into the driveway. It’s my habit to go out and help Ashton down the sidewalk, but this time I was in a rush to put some things away and before I knew it, they were in the kitchen and right in front of me was our precious little Ashton holding an awful, cold- looking, metal cane!
I can’t begin to describe to anyone the thoughts that were going through my head. My heart was breaking. She was wobbling everywhere, and the cane was waving back and forth! I had assured myself I would never do it, but for the first time I was looking at her with pity!
My husband is the only one who has ever seen me fall apart because of our struggles with Ashton. I have always been able to hold my emotions back until my children and grandchildren are gone, but the tears were so close to coming. My insides were shaking and all I could do was silently pray, “Please Lord, get me past this!!!!” That one moment felt like an hour and then God spoke the most wonderful words I think I have ever heard. He let little Ashton do his talking when she looked up at me and with a big grin, and sparkling brown eyes said,
“ Nana, it comes in pink!”
In an instant, everything was okay! Who wouldn’t want a pink cane!! WOW!
It was decided that Ashton was too young to master the cane. It may come back in the future, but it’s okay because “it comes in pink”! As a matter of fact, there are a lot of things that would ordinarily take me down, but life gets easier if I just pause to remember… “It Comes In Pink!”
Please take to heart what you have just read. Remember this story when the going gets tough and remember to pray for Ashton!