Hey Sister Tambourine Girl - Play a Song For Me

We had Homecoming this week and along with that, comes a parade down main street. I had never in my life seen a parade for a high school before moving to a small town. 

When my oldest was in high school and told me she was going to be in a parade down main street in the middle of the day, I thought she had to be joking. 

Nope, they close down main street and all the police guard the main road entrances and all the different groups and different classes from the high school have floats or march down main street. 

This year has been a difficult one for Princess Five as everything she thought her year would be have been taken from her. She understands the situation and she is grateful to be alive but she still is struggling to find her place now having chosen not to be involved in the drama of the student government. 

It was hard for her giving up cheer for drill and then having the accident and not being able to dance anymore as she hasn't been able to put weight on her arm yet. She still gets up early for all the practices but realizes she needs to be realistic about her ability. 

She is in the school choir but is a bit more advanced musically than the other kids so it doesn't keep her interest or give her the ability to perform as she enjoys. She also is in a guitar class as an assistant to the teacher but with her arm injury, she hasn't been able to do much until recently. 

She is also in a percussion class as she is the Music Sterling Scholar for the school this year but with her injury, she can't carry the weight of the drums so about all she can do is play the tambourine by hitting her right leg with the tambourine.  

She can lift her left arm slowly but even to get her left hand on her hip, she still needs to lift it with the other hand or do it VERY slowly. She is progressing but movements still come VERY slow. 

Due to all this, she basically gets to play one instrument at school where she was so involved in the past few years. She is taking it in stride but sometimes admits feeling sad when she sees the cheer or drill team perform. But, I am amazed and how quickly she starts to count her blessings and focus of what she can do. This is obvious by her cute pictures where she is smiling holding the one thing she can do at the moment! 

Aren't these pictures adorable! I am so proud of how she has handled her struggles this year and been able to overcome them. I'll share tomorrow about the homecoming dance and how her attitude turned something that could have been difficult into a blessing. I am grateful for her willingness to push through the struggles and find the JOY!