Dealing With Being The Caregiver To My Older Sister

2011-2012

So I'm gonna skip to 2011 as that was a big year for us.. then ill go to 2017 and go up to date...

So its 2011, I'm 10 years old in 5th grade, Chelsea is 13 in 7th grade. The years before this were ok, nothing that big happened but 2011 was the biggest year for our family since when Chelsea had her stroke episode. In 2011, I was homeschooled, Chelsea received her Make A Wish, and she held her first Art Exhibition.

I was being homeschooled because in 4th grade I just couldn't deal with school, I have no idea why but I was in and out of trouble. Since my school was so expensive (35,000 a year) my parents decided they didn't want to waste their money on it that year when they thought all I was gonna do was screw up. But I didn't really mind, I got to stay at home watching Make it or Break it, and swimming and then when it came to it being involved in the planning of the wish granting and also the exhibition.

In July 2011,  Make a Wish contacted my mum offering to grant Chelsea any wish that she could want (within reason). We thought of doing shopping spree's, room makeovers, actual makeovers .. basically all the girly things that you could want as a teenager. Yet it was Zach and I hinted is there any way we could get Chelsea to swim again. Well we all knew it wouldn't really be the same as swimming before her stroke, she could at least be in the water. Next thing we knew, we had months of planning meetings with the so many doctors and medical suppliers and things we're shipped in from the states and tons and tons of practicing and then it was happening.. My sister and I would finally swim again together.

So all of us gathered together on a October 11 2011 on a early Saturday morning with family and friends and we all watched the moment where we saw Chelsea get into the water and float around and even swim with her, and it was magical. Stressfully magical..

After dealing with the stress and emotional effects of Chelsea swimming, we decided in 2012 we should have a Art Exhibition. I know your probably thinking Samara she's paralysed from the neck down in a wheelchair and ventilator what are you talking about art exhibition. See in 2010, Chelsea got really depressed, and we were trying to come up with ways to make her smile and laugh again. Thanks to an amazing art teacher called Ms.Mac, we discovered that she could still paint and express herself in her own way.. So we tapped canvas to the floor, threw some paint on top of it, pressed play on the youtube playlist and she was off. Next thing we new we had created Paintability.

Chelsea was painting 2 to 4 times a week stacking up the canvas' in the art studio's, when we had the idea why not put on a show for people to come as see this amazing thing Chelsea can do even though she is in a wheelchair. So after months and months of planning and fighting with almost anyone who had a voice in the show, it all paid off..  Chelsea had the one and only Paintability Exhibition at the Red Dot Gallery on May 10th 2012 and it was a success. We ended up selling almost all the paintings, Chelsea was finally smiling for the first time in a long time and oh we loved every second of it.

So wether it was by coincidence or not, it happened that the year I had to take off school was the year of things that was amazing and I was able to be a part of it every step of the way and I have to say that was a pretty good feeling. I would spend the days when Chelsea was at school, helping planning one thing or another then when she came home I would sit next to her and flip pages or watch tv together until it was time for us to go to bed. 

After the exhibition, She kept painting and selling as we went. we would spend all the time together as always. But then I got the news that finally I was able to go back to school for 6th grade, and that my parents trusted me enough for it and we could finally afford it .

Big surprise if you know me, I messed it all up again so it only lasted a year but it was pretty nice to feel normal again for those 9 months spent in the classrooms mostly failing a subject but still I wouldn't change it for anything else in this world.