My Little Country Girl

 

With Father's Day coming up, we asked Rett Dads to be our guest bloggers for the week. Just because these girls have Rett Syndrome does not mean they are not still "Daddy's Little Girl" .... times one million! To all the Rett Dads - thank you for your special role in raising these very special girls. 

our other Daddy posts this week:

Pete Curry, Maisy's dad: "No Laughter? No fun? No thank you."

Bill Hileman, Brynn's dad: "Be Happy No Matter How Large the Obstacle"
Sean Schenk, Kristyn's dad: "I just have to love Kristyn with all my heart."

Bill Farnum, Ella's dad: So Weak, So Strong

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Blog #5: David Luntz, Maryjane's dad

 

When I found out I was having a daughter I was like in Heaven. I was really looking forward to raising a kid again and running around crazy, raising her as a person who appreciated wildlife and enjoyed hunting, atv'ing, riding horses and basically just being a country girl. 

It was Oct 16th 2008 when that changed.  I had Mj at the moose lodge with me as we were setting up for that night's NRA banquet. I was walking with her to the bathroom when she fell to the floor with a grand mal seizure. There's nothing so scary in life as watching your daughter go through that. The hospitals, eegs, all the tests continued and she continued to have a series of petite seizures that sent us to the hospital twice more. 

In a period of three weeks my dreams were shattered. There was a period of about three weeks before they narrowed the diagnosis to Rett, they first tested for Angelmans. It was a pretty traumatic experiance. She is now 5. Three years have past. She is a terror! LOL... We are very fortunate.

Mj is an extremely strong girl, very active. She rides horses, and loves riding in the atv and going hunting with us.  She loves animals, and actually has her own little mini farm that we are building for her. Not only does she love animals but she is, I would say, animal crazy.. I guess like most little girls. She has chickens (her favorite), 3 mini horses, a goat, fish, 2 kitties and 2 dogs. Did I say she likes animals? 

We have plans to add an outside aviary for turkeys as she likes to walk around with them and actually will allow her to sit right next to them and pet them. Next year we want to build her a pen for her most absolute favorite animal - piggies. 

The joy I get from her facial expressions and laughter over chickens and piggies is unbeatable.  I am replacing the old dreams with new dreams and enjoying the little moments, the smiles, occasional word or verbal response, the time we get to play togeather running around, hiding in blankets, playing on the slide, these are the best. We now realize she will be with us for the rest of our lives, and look forward to all the new experiances, watching her learn and grow. She is our world and my little country girl.  I couldn't be any happier. Maryjane Luntz my daughter.

- David Luntz