Louisiana writes to a lonely Native American woman in Arizona who has suffered great tragedy in her life; she tries to offer her some hope and encouragement.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005, 10:50 a.m., C.D.T.~
Dear Miss Sieweyumptewa-Piestala~
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my second book (I will have to send you a copy of my first book, "A Family Made out of Rainbows and Miracles: The Sandusky Family Story--A True Story of Love and International Adoption"; it will be autographed, and I will be sending it to you, free of charge; consider it a gift!); I am glad you liked the sequel! Any feedback, positive OR negative, is very much appreciated, and I am glad you enjoyed my latest book. (It just came out but a few months ago, so it is very new.) Thank you, too, for taking the time to write; it was good to hear from you!
But I am so sorry you have had many problems in your life, among them, caring for a sick, aged mother, a daughter with chronic health issues, and are currently dealing with grief issues involving the loss of your beloved husband (and also your legs). How awful! No person should ever have to deal with life-altering crises such as these alone, and I can understand your fears and uncertainties very well. But I AM glad you are there for your mother and your daughter, and I will be lifting you all up in my prayers!
Now, to answer your question, I am part Cherokee Indian (on my mother's side; my uncle on my mother's side was a full-blooded Cherokee); and I have the "Indianness" apparent in my dark, thick, wavy hair, and my dark reddish-brown skin (that only gets darker in the spring and summer). I am also part Cajun French (on both parent's side); in fact, I am more Cajun French than Cherokee Indian (even have the maiden name of Moliere' and the "t'ick, t'ick Cajun accent" to back up that claim! LOL), but I DO have Native blood in my bloodlines, and I am very proud of both my Cajun French and my Native American heritage.
To tell you a little about myself, I am in my thirties (I will be 37 in just a few weeks, on the 10th of June), and I have been married to my husband, Bill, for nearly fourteen years now. We had three kids of our own, but all of them passed on to Glory, two while still tiny babies; and I still miss them now even today. If they had lived, all of them would have been in their adolescent years. But they still live on in my hearts, and they will always remain there, in spirit. Well, my dear, sweet hubby knew I still wanted a family after the death of our third child, so we prayed about it, and God decided to give us a ministry in adopting children, children of special needs, and He has blessed us tenfold by bringing us not one, but FIFTY-TWO Miracle Children from all over the world, and children of many racial backgrounds and disabilities. Some of my children are only mildly disabled while others struggle just to stay alive or try to have as normal of a life as possible, but their courageous spirit and spunk and determination has taught us both so much about the tenacity of the human spirit, and they are all a joy to be around. Not all of the kids are disabled, but the main majority of them are, and they have managed to overcome so much in their lives; and now God is blessing each and every one of them. Now it's gotten to the point to where I can't imagine my family without ANY of the children, and they have blossomed into beautiful young men and women!
The youngest is but a baby of one year (he is one of our newer ones; he and another girl, five, came to us just a few months back from Sri Lanka, and they have fit in beautifully into our family!), and the oldest is 23--and has made me a grandma, five times! All but four live here with Bill and myself, and they are all growing so fast! I wish I could keep them all little for the rest of their lives, but you and I both know that this isn't at all possible! So we just try to let them spread their wings and fly when they are ready to make that journey into adulthood. Sure, there may be bumps and bruises along the way, but as long as they need us, we will always be there for them and try to guide them in spirit and in whatever they want to do in life.
Now, my husband and I both work: my husband is a "people greeter" at Wal*Mart (he has been there for over two years now, and he loves his job!), while I am a registered charge nurse at a large, metropolitan hospital (Nashville Memorial). I have enjoyed my job as a nurse very much, but the pay IS lousy (yet God somehow provides the finances whenever we need a little boost!), and while I DO get weekends off, I DON'T get major holidays like New Year's, Valentine's Day, Easter, the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving, OR Christmas off; I can be counted to work any of these holidays; last year, I had to work on Christmas, but I was off on Thanksgiving. This year, I will be working on Turkey Day, but will have Christmas Day off. Every other year, we nurses rotate, and it is a very good system. I have experienced both a lot of joy and heartbreak during my tenure as a nurse, but it is a job I wouldn't trade for a million dollars! I love helping people in their greatest need, and when we save a life or pull one back from the brink of certain death, one can't POSSIBLY imagine the joy and satisfaction that we nurses feel, especially if that patient had a poor prognosis. Sometimes our patients can totally surprise us; and this has happened more times than people realize!
My husband and myself are also disabled (my husband more than myself, but recently, I had a miracle happen in my life that's changed it completely; more on this in a bit); my husband has bi-polar depression, high blood pressure, asthma, and degenerative arthritis that requires him to walk with forearm crutches while I have osteoarthritis, and for years, had severe back problems stemming from a childhood trauma (I fell out of a tree; was paralyzed for a time, but have since gotten my walking back, and I have been puttering around ever since! LOL) that resulted in crippling back pain and pain down both legs (sciatica). For a long time I had to use some sort of assistive device to aid in my walking (a cane or forearm crutches if the pain was especially hard to deal with, or on extremely bad days, a wheelchair or electric cart), but I recently had back surgery that has finally ended the severe pain I have had for so long, and it's been nothing short of a Miracle! I am also walking WITHOUT crutches, or WITHOUT a cane, and I even went as far as DANCING at a recent Cajun music festival when we went to Louisiana a few weeks back! I get around so much better now, and this was partly what prompted me to write my second book, the book that you read. So were the additions of our two Sri Lankan Miracles.
Sorry for going on at the mouth like this, but you are writing to a woman who just LOVES to talk (somehow people are always telling me to shut up! LOL), I hope you don't mind! But I have many friends, and I have many friends who share in the adoption experience, and in addition to my other duties in my life, I am also a part of a very active adoption community, and I write to other families of children with special needs, and we are there for one another during times of trouble. I also help other families with the process of adoption, and I have seen families grow as a result, and I feel so satisfied in knowing that I had some help in making a difference in a person's life. This is why I do it, and I enjoy it emmensely.
What do you like to do? I hope that you can find an outlet for your pain and grief; I am very concerned about you, Wyndi! Please, by all means, if you ever need to talk or vent in any way, please call me or email me (I will be sending you my phone number and my email addy on a seperate piece of paper, along with an autographed copy of my first book, "A Family Made out of Rainbows and Miracles") at any time! If I don't get back to you right away, don't worry; I WILL get back to you SOMETIME, and that is a promise!
Well, it's time I put this epic write LOL to bed; I also have to get ready to go to lunch (I wrote this right before I went on break, and somehow, the time got away from me! LOL). I will write again as soon as I can; until then, you take care, and God bless you always! Know you will be lifted up in prayer, and you will have others doing the same! I am a firm believer in the power of prayer because I HAVE seen it work not only in my life, but in the lives of my friends and other people! God bless you, Wyndi, and thanks again for writing!
(((HUGS))) and much love, a new friend in Tennessee, Louisiana Mayrah Therese Sandusky. :D
Tuesday, May 24, 2005, 10:50 a.m., C.D.T.~
