I have a daughter who is the sunshine of my world.

My daughter's name is Kicki. Kicki Annika. She's three years old, just a peanut of a thing; yet there's nothing puny about her--or her personality.

Kicki is one of the most outgoing little girls I know. She loves life; she not only lives it: she embraces it, wholly and fully. When people first see her, meet her in person, they are often amazed because they can't believe that a child like her can enjoy life so much.

Yet that is exactly what she does. Kicki doesn't let the fact that she's paralyzed stand in her way. If she wants to get somewhere, all she does is grab her crutches and goes. There's no stopping her. If someone makes her mad, she will let them know in no uncertain terms how she feels; people soon learn to stay out of her way when she's in one of her moods.

Kicki has always possessed a stubborn streak about her. Maybe that's one reason why she does so well in life. Kicki's had to fight harder than most kids her age to get ahead, and she's had to go through things that no child should ever have to face.

Kicki has been in and out of hospitals for most of her life, endured many painful surgeries and procedures; yet through it all, life hasn't erased that huge, dimpled smile off her face. She is a child of courage, a child of determination; nothing is going to stand in her way in achieving her dreams.

Right now Kicki's favorite things to do include watching "Sesame Street" on television (only she calls it "The Elmo Show"; she's nuts about "Elmo", that cute little red furry monster with the high, annoying voice), learning her letters and numbers, going to the store, or to her therapy sessions (Kicki loves her therapy team; she also loves her doctor, Dr. Kramer). In addition, Kicki loves to sing, dance (on her crutches, no less), and annoy her two older sisters Kerrigan and Karis, who are both six. (They're twins.)

I don't know what our lives would be like if we didn't have  Kicki in it. Kicki has brought us so much joy; she's taught us to see the beauty in people who are disabled, to see their potential, to see that if given the chance, they can achieve whatever goals they have in life.

Well, I will go now. Time to get the twins up for school, also get Kicki up (she sees Pat and Michaela, her therapists, at nine; got to get her fed, medicated, bathed, dressed).

I will write more about our little family in the near future.

By the way, my name's Elge. Elge Groenfeldt. I'm the mother of these three girls, and all have been nothing but a joy in my life, in particular, Kicki. She means so much to me I wanted to tell the rest of the world about her, why she is so special to me.

~Elge K. Groenfeldt, mother to Kicki, Karis, and Kerrigan. :)