Strength of a little girl

So, Shamus' fam damily has been here for the last couple of days and we haven't seen them since last summer. It's a whirlwind when they are here because our quiet house is transformed into a rockin' good time for two little girls. Having no kids and still both being on the fence as to whether children are in our future, seeing and hearing the things little girls chat about and do is sort of alien to me at least (probably sound a bit old). i.e. how cute Justin Bieber? is and what a great singer Taylor Swift is, seeing the littlest girl eat Rice Krispies and having it cascading out of the sides of her mouth like a waterfall, etc. Between now and then a horrible event occurred in which the father of Shea's 9 and 10 year old cousins shot himself and their mother in front of the girls. These girls absolutely amazed me. No person should ever have to see something such as this let alone a child, but they have more strength than I ever could have imagined. Their grandparents now take care of them and on a side note I have no idea how they can keep up, but they love those girls to bits and it is apparent in everything that they do. They all decided that therapy would be a must and all go. I'm sure that this is something that maybe a need through most of the rest of their lives because of the things that they have seen. What I was most amazed by though is speaking to them and seeing them interact, they talk about their mother regularly and never in the past tense always in the present. Especially, giggling about her likes and dislikes and stories of times together. Even in regards to what happened they speak freely about it. Most of what they speak about their dad is negative, but that unfortunately is all of what they saw of him with addiction problems and domestic violence on a daily basis. I don't know what I expected truly when I saw them, but to anyone who doesn't know the burden that they carry they are just normal 9 and 10 year old little girls. That talk about Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, wrestle with our dogs, love to play games and giggle. I just know that my own mother, even though she's far away, is my best friend in the entire world and can't imagine her not being a part of my life. I guess that is where I had to stop myself though and realize that their mom is still a huge part of their life in that they carry her and all of the memories so close to their hearts. They don't have the luxury of taking her for granted like some of us do from time to time. I hope that the good memories stay with them always and that their lives can grow out of the sadness and become the brilliant women that I see in their little faces.

Sorry to be a downer, but just had to say this and how important it is that if you or someone that you know is in an abusive relationship to get help to get out of the situation. http://www.ndvh.org/

Peace...