Sometimes life is not fair

Elizabeth White was a little girl born with epidermolysis bullosa (EB). EB is a genetic condition and causes the skin to be extremely fragile and causes blisters. This blistering causes painful sores and can lead to infection.

I first came to know of Elizabeth after she began attending school with Aubrey. Then I read about her in the local newspaper after they ran a special series on Elizabeth. Elizabeth started school in Divide County around the same time that Aubrey was at the height of her biting phase. We would walk past Elizabeth in the hallway and I would cringe at the possibility that Aubrey might hurt her. She would always say hello to Aubrey though. She clearly didn't have the same fears that I did for Aubrey's possible actions.

Over the years that Elizabeth lived in Crosby I came to know Elizabeth much better as well as her mother, Jenny. Jenny and I had a good bit in common and we could talk freely about the struggles of raising a special needs child. Jenny had much more on her plate with Elizabeth than I did with Aubrey but there were still enough  similarities that were able to connect on that level.

As I came to know about the struggles Elizabeth went through, the more I admired her courage. She would quiz me on the happenings of my household and I don't think she ever forgot to ask how Aubrey was doing. If she knew that Aubrey had been to a special doctor's appointment or if something happened to Aubrey that was out of the ordinary, Elizabeth needed to know the details. She spent so much time suffering but still needed to know about Aubrey's well being.

Last spring I made Elizabeth a promise that I'd take her to the pool. She really wanted to see about this pool business but wanted to do it on her terms. For Elizabeth's first trip to the pool, we rented the pool so that she could be comfortable being there. After that, it was on. Elizabeth had a blast in the swimming pool last summer and it was so humbling to see the confidence with herself in the water improve so quickly. After our trips to the pool, Elizabeth was more than an kid I knew from Aubrey's school, she permanently held a place in my heart.

Over this past winter, Elizabeth spent a lot of time in the hospital. I would hear her giving the nurses heck and she would tell me everything the doctors were doing wrong. She was in the hospital over her birthday and I started making a birthday party game plan with her to keep her spirits up. She was quite specific on some of the details and I don't think we had any calls where she didn't want to make adjustments to the plan or make sure I hadn't backed out of my end of the deal. She was determined to keep me in line.

When Elizabeth came home from that last hospital stay it was difficult to watch her. She was extremely fragile and the EB had taken over her body. Jenny put on a brave face but my heart broke for her as much as it did for Elizabeth. Elizabeth would not live much longer and the time was closing in too rapidly. She didn't lose her wit though. She was sharp and needed to know everything about everything.

During one of my last visits with Elizabeth, she asked me how Alexander's head was looking after wearing his helmet. Here was this child, in more pain than I could imagine, and she was concerned about Alexander's little head not being straight. Talk about compassion for others.

On my last day with Elizabeth she asked me if she could give Aubrey one of her stuffed animals. Santa had accidentally brought Elizabeth two of the same one and the way she figured it, if she kept one and Aubrey had one, they would be besties forever. The next day, Elizabeth was gone.

Elizabeth White taught me that you don't take life for granted. Not a single moment of it. I saw her pain in a way that I have never seen pain before. I saw her frailty in ways that ways that will never leave my memory. What I saw most in Elizabeth White though, was someone who never gave up. She fought her battle until the very last moment of her life, which ended at 13 years old. I am so honored to have known the courageous Elizabeth White.