I once met a girl I’ll call Vee who’d now be 23 if she’d beaten HIV-1 and lived. Fourteen Christmas’s ago, we were student, teacher, and friends in a most unlikely place. The Pulmonary Unit of a Children’s Hospital.
I met her in early October. AIDS had dealt her a pretty horrible blow. Her lungs were shot and even at 9, her body was not strong enough to fight for much longer. With an extended stay in the hospital, she joined school at the hospital. It was she that taught me so many important lessons about life.
During her time at the hospital, she became a living legend. Although not a child that demanded attention, her determination and vision about her purpose in the world demanded a second look. Her father had already succumbed to the AIDS virus. Her mom and brother weren’t as sick as she. She wasn’t interested in laying around when there was so much life experience. So, Vee really lived!
Pediatric Intensive Care is a strange place to teach 3rd grade subjects to a small girl. Each day, I’d look forward to my visits with her. At nine years old, she was a bit young to work on a computer, but that didn’t stop her from dreaming of having her own.
At the time, I knew a lady named Leslie Morrissette who sent free computers to hospitalized kids all over the country. My students were eligible if they 11 or older. I’d just received a beautiful laptop for a 12th grader who’d been battling leukemia. When her computer arrived, she was grateful but asked that I give it to another student more needy than she.
On the morning I visited Vee, I happened to have the computer with me. Missing nothing, she saw the extra and asked to whom that particular laptop belonged.
“Well, Miss Vee, it doesn’t have a home right now.”
“Wow, Teacher Joy. I could sure use one!” Her amazing hazel eyes and impish smile just melted my heart.
With a few calls, the computer was hers. On each bedside visit, she had questions about another subject that had interested her. My favorite memory led us underground and into an Egyptian tomb. With monitors beeping and nurses checking on us, we slowly followed the hallway deep into the ancient tomb without ever leaving her hospital room. Her curiosity was limitless to her teacher’s delight.
In the months I knew her she made and sold jewelry. Earning over $500, she sent the money to an AIDS hospital in Africa to help her internet friends across the world. She was interviewed on television. She made lots of computer videos as little girls do. She stole the hearts of everyone who knew and loved her. Vee was just that kind of gal.
We lost Vee on December 21, 2010. That day, she had gone downstairs to watch hundreds of Hells Angels Bikers drop off gifts for the children at the hospital. She was interviewed by the local television channel that afternoon. Before she fell asleep, she told her mom it was the best day of her entire life. And then, she left us for adventures in heaven.
I tell you about Miss Vee because even all these years later, she inspires me to be the best I can be. The strongest. The most tenacious. Inquisitive. Thoughtful. Generous. The brightest light I can be in a world of darkness. Miss Vee, as one of my angels, knows that someday I’ll get there. It’ll be time for school when the bell rings. She won’t be late. We have a lot more to learn together.
Whatever you do today, take some time to remember inspirational people in your life that beat all the odds to remain happy under the worst conditions. Inspiration can come from the most unusual and unexpected places. As for Vee, she’s walking on sunshine!!
More tomorrow.