Kyra, the "Light Princess"

We missed the deadline for the contest, yet still wanted to share this picture and the story of our "light princess".  This is our daughter, Kyra, pictured in the little pond outside her Granny's house when she was 1 years old.  Kyra has a micro duplication of the 22nd chromosome, which has caused mental and physical delays in her development.  We were told for 4 years that there would be a slim chance that we would ever have kids, then Kyra came along.  Her first 6 months seemed to be "normal", yet on Dec. 23rd, 2008, Kyra had a seizure and continued to have 100's more over the next few days.  Through a few different hospitals and being in ICU in Sacramento, CA, then referred to a Specialist we were informed of her disability and it was then that our life radically changed.  After that day, there has been nothing "normal" about Kyra.  She did not walk till 3, after undergoing casting and braces for abnormally tight hamstrings, did not feed herself till 4 1/2 due to decreased motor skills and still has yet to talk due to decreased mental skills.  This may sound like a sob story, yet it is not.  We have never had any other kids, so this is all that we have known.

Despite her disabilities, Kyra has become our "Light Princess".  We have often  receive  sympathy from people with Kyra, yet our answer is always the same...."Kyra doesn't know that she is disabled".  Due to this fact, she has been empowered with far more joy than most people can fathom.  Her smiles, her laughter, her dancing, her screeches of joy can bring the most downtrodden person to a smile and fill them with a momentary burst of joy as a sunbeam penetrates a grey cloud.  It seems as though our lives have become unbearable at times, with her disabilities and seizures on top of that, yet Kyra has never let that hold her back and her light shines bright enough to push us out of the pity parties that we sometimes have and we are able to bask in the joy light of this little princess and our worries and sorrows seem to melt away.

When we saw your latest album cover of "The Light Princess", it resonated with our Spirit and we saw Kyra as a younger version of just that.  We have gone through some difficult times, yet our light princess has been there each time to lift us up, shine her light and often times  lead us to the source of that light so that we might bask in it.  Although we may have missed the contest, we could not help but to share her picture and her story and show you our own "Light Princess".

Thank You for your inspiration,

David, Melissa and Kyra