The Force is STRONG with this one…..

Strength To Fight

It takes a certain amount of strength to fight this disease.  Samime and I always say that Derya is our Superhero. The amount that she has been through, the rough road ahead that she has to face, the struggles she already has had to face.  The torture at the hands of medical professionals and those who would say they were doing right by her.

I think this is a product of the age when we accept that life will get better.  We often recognize this but wonder when that will be. The problem is, it’s difficult to keep that faith when things are tough and you have to remain strong.

Star Wars? or Derya!

If it wasn’t me and it wasn’t Samime, it could only be one other person – Derya.  

In the picture the word strong is prominent.  It’s from a wall sticker that was Deniz’s from Star Wars.  The original parts of it were “The Force is Strong in this one…”  obviously a reference to those of the Skywalker family. Originally, this sticker was on another wall.  I remember the day that I noticed it had moved. I asked Samime and she said she hadn’t had anything to do with it.

Since then, I’ve noticed Derya adjust, pull it from the wall and then re-sticker it, as if she was smoothing it out.  She’s sat there, looking at and I’ve always wondered what she was thinking.

Strength in Love!

Then I remember the things that Samime and I have been telling her, about how strong she is, about how brave she is.  How she is going to get better, how she IS getting better. We’ve noticed changes over the months, improvements. There’s more of Derya in the every day and less of that monster that is this disease.  I hope I don’t jinx anything by saying all that.

The truth is, we never know what tomorrow brings. For me, the proof of my faith is in Derya, her hopes and dreams.  Her getting better. We know this, that we love her.  We know that she knows we love her. And we know that she is getting better, a little here and a little there – but she is getting better.

Even if she can take a small little sign, and move it over towards the place where she spends seventy-five percent of her day.  It’s as if she was sending a message to Samime and me. I am STRONG, Mom and Dad. Call it fantasy thinking. I don’t mind. But she put it in a place that Samime and I see every day.  It’s over the place where she is hanging out with her parents. She could have put it anywhere else. She picked over the bed she “hangs out” in as she is in the picture. Lying in bed while I type away here, working on grades or one of the other dozens of things that I do on the computer while I wait for her to get better.

ABOUT US!

James Baldini blogs about his daughter’s care and the tragedy that has surrounded the entire family of Derya Demirtas.  Derya has had Autoimmune Encephalitis for nearly four years now.  The young advancing, brave and stalwart young woman Derya Demirtas, has suffered much throughout that time.  As has her family and friends.  In someway we hope to see a change within the medical community so that it may better adapt to this disease and prevent future generations of victims.

You can read more from James Baldini @  www.JamesBaldini.com

#FreeDerya #JamesBaldini