Tears of My Angel
A Memoir of Love, Hope, and Lost Dreams
by
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I held her close to my pounding heart, and Tany held her little hand as tears of pain rolled down our faces. Slowly, Laura began to fall asleep, so we gently put her back in her crib. I wanted to scream. I felt like I was suffocating. Th ere was a tightening in my throat and my chest and I knew Tany felt the same.
We stood by Laura’s crib and were afraid to move away. We decided that Laura needed to be seen by a pediatric neurologist.
The three of us sat on the bed in silence. Tany’s father was asleep, so we would tell him in the morning.
The memory of that terrible night in Chicago crept into our minds, when Laura had awakened, crying uncontrollably. I looked at Tany. What happened that night in Chicago could also have been a seizure. We remembered that we had taken Laura to the pediatrician because she was due for her second round of vaccines the DPT and OPV. Could something in those vaccines be the cause of what happened then and now? But nothing terrible had happened when Laura had her first shots so it didn’t make sense.
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About the Book
Life is unpredictable. When we least expect it, it can be changed forever. That moment came for author Benedetta Lino when her one-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, the possible result of a serious adverse reaction to the DPT vaccination. Yet in the years to come, Benedetta refused to give up hope and refused to let her daughter experience anything less than true and unconditional love.
Heartwarming, yet bittersweet, Tears of My Angel recounts the years of struggle, pain, love, and hope that the Lino family endured. Benedetta recounts the early years of her daughter’s life, of the numerous tests and hospital stays, until the diagnosis finally came in 1985. But from that moment on, things only became more difficult.
As Benedetta and her husband learned to care for their daughter in the comfort of their home, they found strength in each other and in the love they had for Laura. As the years passed, and the normal milestones of a child’s life passed with-out being celebrated, the family instead celebrated the beauty of life, of Laura’s courage, and of the power of love.
Tears of My Angel inspires, educates, and encourages, but most of all, it reaffirms the ability of hope and love to sustain us through our darkest days.
About the Author
Benedetta Lino was born in Palermo, Sicily. She came to the United States in 1966 and attended Our Lady of the Angels grammar school and the Immaculata High School. Lino resides in Elmwood Park, Illinois, with her husband, Tany, and their two children.