Hi Clare, AmyE, and SS --
I used ask "Why her?""Why me?" And one day, I expressed this sentiment to my mother-in-law and she said, "Why not her? Why not you? What makes you exempt out of the almost 7 billion souls on this planet?" A bit harsh... but honest.
And, of course, over the years that I have fought for my daughter and my efforts for her have benefitted numerous other children. Children whose parents may not have the determination, skills, education and aggressive personality that God has cursed? gifted? me. So, I think I know "Why her? Why me?" The answer is that because of her and by being me -- we are working to make things better, and not just for her and certainly not for me.
What a gift this work has been... I decided to become a teacher because like Christa McAuliffe (the first teacher in Space and who died in the Challenger explosion), who said, "I touch the future, I teach." When I read that quote I knew that I wanted to "touch the future". Well, we touch the future -- because we are working to make it a better one for people like our children. Good work, mums!
MinnieMel