NADA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NADA!

Today is my favorite little girl's 11th birthday!

Nada, pronouced nay-duh, not naw-duh. It irritated me to the core, like she was my own child, when people mispronounced her name. I had the privilige of living in a beautiful huge Connecticut house with her and her two spastic dogs and freaky cat for a year. Oh yes, Phil and Amy lived there too, though you wouldn't know it with their work schedules. I had the time of my life though, and I managed to learn a few motherly traits here and there. Mostly my knowledge gained was about myself and this special 11 year old. She taught me more in a year than anyone else nor BYU nor teaching has in that allotted time frame. I grew to love her so much I kept extending my stay from the end of the summer to October to December to March to May and finally July 12. Nada was my little sister, my buddy, my shopping pal, my daughter, my student, and my friend. It was very hard to part from her and our East Coast lifestyle. Though at times I surely wanted to kill and lock myself in the basement amid her extreme temper tantrums and Elmo fascination. Her severe autism was a great challenge for me, communication and teaching methods were a huge adjustment. But by the end we understood each other perfectly.

A few of my favorite things about Nada:

-Don't let her size full you, she is freakishly strong and has some serious guns.

-Her and Phil's body is 90% cheetos, 4 or 5 bags a week! We love cheeto puffs!

-Sometimes I fed her candy amid Amy's size 2 all organic diet.

-She loved having her nails painted

-I taught her how to load a dishwasher, push her chair in, put her shoes away, feed the dogs, and most importantly how to jump off couches.

-She loved going shopping at Target and TJMaxx and peeing in the carts to make me mad so we could leave.

-We loved riding the escaltors up and down, up and down, up and down at the Trumball Mall.

-And riding the merry go round at Danbury Mall.

-Finding and driving to all the Stop & Shops within a 30 mile radius.

-Going to the library to see the snowman

-Naming all the fabric colors at Jo-ann's

-Playing with the girls at Mindys and going on lunch dates

-Riding in the Yukon fighting over the radio

-Going for walks down the street checking everyone's mailboxes

-Despite having 2-3 servings of her own dinner, she would always come sit on the couch with me and eat all of my dinner. It was annoying but I miss it.

This captures Nada's spirit and personality perfectly!

It is my favorite shot and encompasses memories of us constantly laughing together.

HAPPY BIRTHAY NADA!