Tomorrow morning we'll be taking our 3 year-old daughter Tori to Nashville for her second cleft-lip surgery. The people at Vanderbilt have been amazing and most likely this will be the last surgery she will need. She goes into the OR at 2:00 p.m. and the procedure should last a couple of hours.
As we get ready, I'm reminded of a conversation Nancy and Madison had prior to Tori's first surgery in 2004. Nancy wanted to let Madison know what was going on and what the doctors in St. Louis would be doing to her little sister. When Nancy told her they would be fixing Tori's lip, Madison got the strangest look on her face. Over the next few minutes Nancy realized Tori's lip was fine as far as Madison knew, and she couldn't comprehend the need to fix it. It didn't matter that Tori's lip looked different, that is how Madison had always seen her.
The last few weeks I've taken several pictures of the smile I've come to know and love for the last 3 years. I know it's for the best to finish what the docs in St. Louis began, but at the same time I think I'll miss the old one.