Ashley

This is an excerpt from my summer reading book report. I've been wanting to post more often, but I haven't had luck with inspiration recently, so I cheated. :)

Yes, this is true, though most of you have already heard this story. This all happened about two and a half years ago.

    Two years ago, my younger sister, Ashley, was sent to the hospital for urgent brain surgery. She was suffering from a disorder known as neurofibromatosis, and an operation was needed.

    The entire ordeal had been sudden and completely unexpected. The day after my mom drove her to the hospital, the day that she would undergo surgery, my two other siblings and I woke up to an empty, quiet house. We were occasionally updated on the goings-on at the hospital an hour away, but otherwise, nothing happened all morning.

    The silence seemed to slowly eat away at me from inside, as I was left alone with my thoughts to wonder just what was happening to my beloved younger sister at the time. I tried to shy away from images of her in an artificial sleep, with wires and IVs protruding from her frail, vulnerable skin. That day was easily the most stressful and fear-filled day of my life.

    Then, sometime later that day, came the news that the surgery had been highly successful. The triumph was largely due to the anonymous donation of a minuscule camera that had helped with the accuracy of the incision. The instrument was easily worth a lot of money. Whoever had contributed the appliance saved her from a much larger scar across her scalp, as well as made the surgery safer and easier for the doctor. My siblings and I were told that we could visit her after she woke up. In place of the cold, unknowing fear that had polluted my heart and thoughts came a relieved happiness that washed through my soul and cleansed me of all the nervous thoughts from the day. I rode to the hospital feeling impatiently euphoric.

    Since that traumatic time, Ashley has made a full and complete recovery and has once again become the bouncy, fun sister that I knew. There was a difference in our relationship, however, even if she herself didn’t realize it. When I think of what exactly could have happened if something had gone askew in the operation, I value my life shared with her that much more and am motivated to strive to be a better sister. Though at the time I questioned why the incident had happened to my family, I now know that God used the near-tragedy to bring us closer to each other and to Him.