December 9, 2010~

Dear Diary~

This is your friend, Chloe Zade Greathouse, writing.  Hope this finds y'all well.

Sorry if I haven't written in so long; had surgery since my last entry; had surgery on my hands and feet, and it took a long time for me to get over it.  Still not quite up to snuff, but I'm a lot better off than I was.  I can move around easier.

In addition, my daddy got in a bad car wreck; he broke his back, and ever since, he can't work.  He has had to apply for SSDI.  Still waiting to hear from them, to see if he will get a check every month; mama says it's a long and drawn out process.  We will all just have to be patient.

I am sixteen years old now.  Am doing okay in school, but the kids still tease me.  I'm sorry; if they can't get used to the fact that I am in a wheelchair and can't talk good, then they're the ones with the problem, not me!!  It's getting to be past annoying!!

I have CP, cerebral palsy, which is why I use a wheelchair and can't talk or move good.  I was born with it.  I've had to put up with it all my life; something I just have to get used to, I guess, but sometimes people make it so hard!!

We are getting ready for Christmas, but because of daddy injuring his back in that car wreck back in April, we won't have as big of a deal as in Christmases past.  I just hope we kids will still get something, especially Erinn and Abigayle, my two younger sisters, who are thirteen (Abigayle) and eleven (Erinn). 

Clark, my only brother (he's 18 now), is away from home.  He is attending college at West Point; he wants to be a nuclear physicist or something (I looked it up in order to spell it right).  He has very high goals for himself; he's always been incredibly book-smart, which is a lot more than I can say about my own dumb self!

If I were smarter, I wouldn't be in the Special Needs class at my school!

We have the tree up and decorated, and the outside lights are out on the house.  It really looks pretty at night.  Our neighbors, the Ransomes, really helped us out by doing the lights for us this year; it's been a godsend!  They knew daddy can't do it, so they stepped up to the plate and helped us out when we needed it.  The same went for Thanksigiving.  They made our turkey dinner (with all the fixin's),  and it was yummy-licious!!

It's getting colder here, and it's already started to snow.  We had our first "tracking snow" a few days ago: everything is covered in a blanket of white; it reaminds me of being buried in a cotton field.  Really pretty; and it puts me in a Christmas mood!  Not even winter out, and we already got six inches of snow from the last storm; may get more sometime next week, according to the weather guy.

I hope Clark comes home for Christmas; I'd hate to have Christmas without him!!  I miss him ...

The only bad thing about the snow:  I can't get around easily.  It's not easy to push my wheelchair in snow; it's a pain in my rear!  Mama has to struggle to get me onto the driveway, which has been cleared, and I'm scared she's gonna hurt her back.  If that happens, then what's gonna happen to us? Who's gonna take care of the kids, especially me, since I already need extra help as it is??

Well,  I'm gonna go; am at school as I write this, and I have to get busy with my work.  Teacher is giving me the hairy eyeball again; when she does that, we know she means business!  I will write in here again soon; until then, take care and God bless! Hope you have a Merry Christmas!

~Love, your friend in West Virginia, Chloe.