Six weeks ago, this girl had surgery on her foot. Her recovery hasn’t been easy — in fact, it’s been pretty rough. She slept on the couch for the first few days as we tried to manage her pain. But she got into a groove pretty quickly and never let these circumstances get the best of her. Pretty soon she was pushing herself up the stairs to her room all on her own or using her scooter to navigate the halls on the first day of school. I was the first one to sign her cast and I wrote the best words I could think of to remind her of who she is:

You are strong. — Dad

Today was a big day: we went in to have the hard cast removed. Needless to say, she was pretty excited. But she was OVERJOYED when the doctor told her that she could bypass the soft cast stage and go straight to a walking boot. After hobbling around for the last six weeks, this was the best news she could’ve received. We stopped for a celebratory Starbucks afterward before heading back to school.

I’m proud to be the father of a super strong, determined young lady who has learned to handle adversity in stride. That’s my girl!