I’m no photographer…the truth is that most of my photos are taken with my cellphone. But, I admire the work of many photographers — both in print and film. And, I’ve always been intrigued by the role of the focus puller. Often called ‘1st assistant camera’, it’s the member of the film crew’s camera department whose key responsibility is to maintain image sharpness on whatever subject or action is being filmed (thanks wikipedia!). Essentially, they keep the audience engaged and in-step with the action.

Our daughter was a year and a half when she were told she had mild Cerebral Palsy. Perversely, my near immediate thought was something a dental surgeon had told me years earlier when I was having gum surgery and I asked if it was mild or major surgery. He deadpanned, “I reserve ‘mild’ for something that happens to someone else. Anything that happens to me is major. Because it’s me.”

And oh, did this feel major.The initial slap of hearing ‘your daughter has CP’  stung for days. I was crushed. As a 28-week preemie, she had already worked so hard just to survive and this didn’t seem fair. I had so many dreams for her. Now, doctors were telling us that she may never walk. And, she could have other issues that would develop over time. It was devastating.

After a short while though, it all pulled into focus. Cerebral Palsy is non-progressive. It’s a very broad diagnosis and there really wasn’t anyone who could forecast where the ceiling would be for her. She could ONLY get better. She HAD fought so hard. She IS here.  All the dreams I had been imagining were for her future. I realized that this was her now. And my dream for her remained the same. For her to be the best she could be.