She Did It!

   I got an email from my friend Mickey a week or so ago. She was taking a class to become a med aide and had passed her test. This means that she is now certified with state board of nursing and can pass medications to patients. She wrote that the class was hard and that she was worried about it. She couldn't believe that she passed.
  I wrote a hearty message of congratulations. I was not surprised. I've known for a long time that  Mickey could do anything if she put her mind to it.
  A little background is in order here. Mickey and I go back a long way. I've known her literally all my life. Although she is two years older than me, we were in the same class at school. I'm not quite sure what happened but Mickey sustained a brain injury during birth. The result of this is that when it comes to learning, it's a little difficult for her and she's a little slow. When we were in school she took classes with the rest of the kids. She also took classes with the special education program.
  One thing that really bothered me about Mickey is that she was firmly labeled as "retarded" not only by other students, but by teachers and her parents as well. There was the attitude that she wasn't capable of doing things that the rest of us could do so she needed extra help and should not be expected to do what the rest of us were required to do. I thought this was a mistake. Mickey did have some limits, but not as many as everyone thought. She was smart enough to figure out that if she, please excuse the expression, played dumb, she could get out of doing things she didn't want to do. People would feel sorry for her.
  I remember one time we were in music class together. We had taken a test and we were given the test back and told to correct all our wrong answers. Mickey called me up to ask for help. I think that she thought I'd just give her the right answers. Instead I made her figure them out with a little help from me. I knew she could do it. We took piano lessons from the same teacher and I knew that she knew just as much about music as I did. It was frustrating, but we got through it.
  Once we graduated, we lost touch. I went to North Dakota. Mickey went to a tech school in another town. I was glad that she was living on her own, but also nervous for her because she had been very sheltered growing up.
   Life was not easy for her. She got married and had a daughter. Her first husband was an  unstable person and she was scared of him. She ran away from him and got divorced. She finally moved to South Dakota to be nearer to her family. She married and divorced two more times. As hard as life was for her, I think it was also good for her. She learned that she could take care of herself. I think she realizes now that she is smarter that she thought she was. She also discovered that she has a talent for photography. She's entered contests and won prizes.
 I'm so happy for her now. I'm glad that she is starting to finally realize what I've known all along. I didn't know she was taking that med aide class, but I'm glad that she did. I think that passing it has given her more confidence. She passed. She did it!