Jenna Whitson, a friend of Louisiana's from Alaska, shares her thoughts in a letter to Kendra Williams after she wrote Johnny and Ronee' a letter of encouragement.
Dated: Monday, April 19, 2004~
Dear Kendra Williams:
Hello! Thank you ever so much for your very nice letter/email; it is very nice to hear from you! I thought it was very sweet of you to write Johnny and Ronee' a letter after you heard about their father getting sick! So I am writing to you now, as a token of appreciation and thanks!
My name is Jenna. Jenna Aurora Whitson. I am 44 years old, and I am a native Alaskan. I have lived in Alaska all my life, and to me, Alaska is my home. I was born in Barrow, waaaaay up north, but moved to Anchorage after Michael Doucet (he's my fiance'; we are getting married on September 11) left to go back to Shreveport, Louisiana. I was working at a bank, but last November, I was severely injured in a car accident, and I just got out of the hospital after being in there for five LOOOOONG months! I am still recovering from my injuries, and I am afraid that I will never be as I was prior to the accident. I suffered a broken arm, leg, and hip, as well as fractures to both my upper and lower jaws, and I also had collapsed lungs; and for a while, they thought I was going to give up the ghost; but I fooled them, and I battled back from my injuries; and I am still battling to this day. I now wear a brace on my leg and am walking with either a walker (or for short trips, forearm crutches), and my one arm is still functionally useless; so I have had to learn to do everything one-handed. It is very hard at times, and at times, I still cry and wonder why I was left to suffer such horrendous injury or disability; but God must have not wanted me just yet, so that is why I am still here! LOL
I have an older sister, Jerrica, who lives in Anchorage, too (she has two teenaged boys, Garrett and Tommy), and my mother is still alive; but she is up in years, and she lives with Jerrica and her boys; and they take very good care of her. My father died last year when he was accidentally harpooned to death while whale-hunting. We are Inuit (Eskimo), and we still practice a lot of the Inuit traditions. We also have some Alaskan Indian (Athabaskan and Tlingit--pronounced like "Clink-it!") and German in our blood. But we are mostly Inuit.
I hear you have adopted 11 girls with handicaps into your family, even though you are disabled yourself. That is absolutely wonderful! I have a friend (Louisiana Sandusky; you are probably familiar with her; she and her husband, Bill, adopted over 4 dozen kids, most with disabilities, and they live in Tennessee), and she took really good care of me while I was laid up for all those months in the hospital, making sure I had everything I needed; and she was instrumental in getting me back to where I am now. If it were not for her or her staff at Nashville Memorial (where she is a nurse), I would have been dead and buried six feet underground LONG ago! Louisiana is an angel in nurse's clothing, and I think the world of her! She keeps in contact with me, and when I first found out that she, her husband, Bill, and two of their 50 kids were coming to Alaska, well, as you can imagine, Michael and I were THRILLED! We just met them a few days ago, but unfortunately, as I write these words, as you know, Bill is currently in the hospital with an asthma attack. He went in yesterday, and they thought he would get out today, but they are going to keep him in until tomorrow, just to make sure that things are okay with his breathing. Bill is doing better, but he is still in the hospital, and I have been busily entertaining the kids, Johnny and Ronee'. Kendra, you would absolutely LOVE these kids! Johnny is in a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy, and his sister is on crutches and wears braces on her legs because of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis; but she gets around better than I do right now! LOL They are both sweet-natured kids, and they are absolutely aDORable! They are 11 years old, and they love life and enjoy what life has to offer. Michael and I are having a ball with Johnny and Ronee', and we are trying our best to ease their minds; I know they are worried about their daddy and his being in the hospital.
Which brings me to your letter. I got your letter just a short time ago, and I thought it was very nice of you to email them via your computer. You sound like such a sweet, caring person with a big heart, and I would like to meet you and your girls someday. If ever you come to Alaska, Michael and I would be more than happy to put you all up; we have room! LOL If not, we will MAKE room! LOL So you have 11 girls, all with disabilities; and you are going to be adding your twelth daughter to your family. That is so wonderful; I don't know if I could do that! I haven't been around kids all that much (excepting for Garrett and Tommy, my nephews, who are now teenagers; but I am used to them!), so Johnny and Ronee' are a bit of a challenge; but they are still good kids with good hearts and lots of compassion in their little bodies! They are both well behaved, but Johnny IS a bit on the shy side, and Ronee' is rather precocious for her years; and boy is she ever smart! WOW! Ronee' makes ME look like a complete idiot! LOL
I must tell you this now while I am thinking of it: I am deaf. I was born deaf; but I CAN communicate by lip-reading, sign language, OR by writing on paper. I make a way to make my thoughts and feelings known, and I really haven't had a problem with my being deaf. It's just something I have always had to live with; but to tell you the truth, I would MUCH rather be deaf than having to face the current situation I am in! I am partially paralyzed, and it is so hard for me to do a lot of things! I am still having daily physical and occupational therapies on my leg and arm, and I don't know if I will EVER get the use of my hand back or not; anyway, it is VERY frustrating at best, and I have been a regular b-i-*** about it! LOL I feel so sorry for Michael; he has had to put up with my moods, and frankly, I don't know HOW he can stand being around me so much! LOL I must be driving him CRAZY!!
Well, I will stop while I am ahead..Johnny is letting me know that he needs some help (he is blinking the light, which tells me that he needs attention; I can't hear him calling me!), so I will have to let Michael know that Johnny needs help, so he can take care of him. I would do it myself, but I am not able to right now. Kind of hard to help someone when I need it myself! LOL I am NOT in the best of physical shape right now...I will write more soon; I am looking forward to learning more about you and your beautiful family! Until next time, Kendra, do take care, and thanks for writing to Johnny and Ronee'; you made their day!
~Love, your new friend in Alaska, Naiomi Jenna Aurora Whitson (known to my friends as "Jenna"!).
P.S.: I am not a Christian, as you and Louisiana are, but I still want to thank you for praying for Johnny and Ronee' and their parents. That is awfully nice of you! I shall pray to my gods, too, and ask them to help their father! (My fiance' isn't Christian either; he is Wiccan. Maybe one day we will wise up and accept your God into our lives; but right now, we both feel we aren't worthy enough or ready enough to do so!)
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