NiQi hasn't written on her blog for a while now and I have her permission to put something here for you to read. She has had a bit of a difficult time of late, especially this last week, so to keep you up to date we decided that I would share some of her...and my thoughts with you.
Last weekend we made a trip, a 560 km trip to family in Pietermaritzburg. NiQi's uncle phoned to ask if we would attend a surprize birthday lunch. The birthday girl was my sister, NiQi's aunt - Sara, who happens to share her birthday with Josh...a life long friend who is just 2 weeks older than Nix herself.
We had planned to leave on the Friday, but had to postpone it for a day as our bakkie had a slight technical problem that had to be sorted before we could hit the road. There was a list that had to be made of all the things to be packed and not forgotten and dad was his usual amiable self when packing at 1am the following morning...it was only a weekend trip, but it looked like we were going for a month. So at 2 am we were on our way....travelling through thick mist from Johannesburg all the way through the Free State until arriving just after 9 at Matthew and Jess.
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Sunday was the lunch and we were in such a hurry to leave that we almost left without the cake. This cake I may add, travelled all the way from Gauteng with us, being packed and pampered so that it would arrive in one piece. Naturally Sara was 'gob smacked' when we arrived and with tears of happiness, we set off to the midlands for lunch at Old Haliwell. Sara turned 50 this year, a milestone age in her life...an age that when you are young and setting out on the road of life, is so far away in time!!!!
This reminds me of how so much in life is centred around different ages.
We start at pre-primary at 3...and grade 1 at 6 or 7. We go to high school at 12 and finish at 17...We can get our learners licence at 16 these days and our drivers at 18. We can also apply for our ID document at 16 and can vote at 18. At 21 we are considered an adult...not needing permission from anyone to do anything anymore. So life continues, but for some, like NiQi life is an uncertainty and birthdays are celebrated each year with joy and delight at another milestone encountered.
When NiQi was first diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, she was 6 months old. The average age of survival for someone with CF at that stage, was 21 and NiQi was considered to have a mild form so with care and treatment...who knew...
The year NiQi turned 9, was a terrible year for me as this was the age that Mark was when he passed away. Although there was no reason to think that the same would happen to her, it was only once she turned 10, life became calmer for me.
Last year NiQi turned 21 and at the end of this coming week, she will be 22. This year will be a quiet celebration but next year when she turns 23 she wants to celebrate doing something wonderful and wild doing something that is on her bucket list...maybe make a trip overseas...who knows!!!
So for now...this is goodbye...from me, her mum and NiQi D who is Fabulous and Fighting CF
