Our ten-year-old daughter, Ro (short for Rowena) Grace, is a living medical miracle.

She wasn't expected to survive her earlier-than-anticipated birth.  At birth, she weighed just 10 ounces, less than a can of soda pop, less than a stick of butter.  She was only 9" long when she was born:  she was inpossibly tiny.

At the time of her birth, doctors didn't hold out much hope.  They said she wouldn't live the day; however, they didn't know her willpower:  day by day she beat the odds; she was continually proving her doctors, nurses wrong.

Ro was in the hospital for nine months, six of them spent in Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU). 

At ten months, she had her first surgery, on her heart.  She sailed through it without complications.  At a year, she had surgery on her eyes. 

At two, she said her first words, and at four, she took her first steps, in her (wobbly) attempts at walking. 

At seven, she started school, was toilet-trained.  Ro was diagnosed as having spastic paraplegic cerebral palsy (just her legs are affected), astigmitism/legal blindness, speech problems, hearing loss, and is educably trainable mentally disabled (she will be slower to learn than most children, but she is able to learn, at her own speed). 

Now at the age of ten, Ro is in the third grade.  She is in the Special-Needs classroom, and she does very well in school.  We are very proud at how far she's progressed academically, socially, and physically.  She scores all A's in her classes, and the teachers, other kids just love her.

Like most kids her age, Ro loves Hannah Montana, High School Musical, the Jonas Brothers; however, she also loves Caillou, Barney, Sesame Street.  She loves the color pink (any shade will do, as will purple), pretending to be a princess or a mommy, playing with her little brother, Cosmo (he's six), and her little Chihuahua puppy, "Senor Amigo".  She is very active, even with all of her disabilities.

We don't know what the future will hold for our daughter.  The fact that she is mentally/physically disabled will play a role in daily living; most people won't be willing to give her a chance to succeed in life; she is going to have to fight like hell to get what is rightfully hers, and we will have to be with her, every step of the way. 

I will have to go now; dog needs to go out, and also, Cosmo has awakened from his slumber.  (He's sick in bed; he has a very bad cold, and he's miserable.)  I will write in here again soon; take care and God bless!

~Sincerely, Laurie (Laurel) Gayle Sloan, Ro's mom, Grafton, Ohio.  :)