Any mother will tell you, raising kids is a full-time job. That's especially true for Cindy Flowers, whose two daughters require 24-hour-a-day attention. Nothing so unusual about that except her daughters are adults. Both have spina bifida and will require help the rest of their lives. Heather Flowers is 28. Heidi Flowers is 27.

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Cindy Flowers washes Heather's hair in the kitchen sink. It is easier for Cindy to use the sink because their bathtub isn't set up for wheelchair use.

That's not a problem for Cindy, who long ago understood her life would revolve in a tight orbit around her children. Cindy, who is 50, does worry at times, as do they, about what will happen to the girls if something happens to her. But mostly she feels fortunate to have a close relationship with her daughters, that they are in relatively good health, mentally high functioning and that she is there to offer them everything a mother should.

"They're the wind beneath my wings," she said, quoting a favorite song. "They're the reason I can fly. Some people think they must be a burden, but without them I would be a sparrow. With them I feel like an eagle. I feel very lucky."

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Heather, left, and Heidi Flowers help their mother clean the Oneonta building. Their job is to empty trash cans throughout the office. (World photos/Kelly Gillin)

"I don't know what I'd do without her," Heidi said about her mother. "I worry about what would happen to us if she was not around."

Heather and Heidi use hand-powered wheelchairs to get around. Together, they've undergone more than 175 operations to mend a long list of problems related to spina bifida, a birth defect that involves incomplete development of the spinal cord or its covering.

In spite of their disabilities, Heather and Heidi have become active volunteers who have won praise for their community work. They've volunteered with local churches to offer respite care for Alzheimer's disease patients, been greeters at annual bridal shows, the KPQ Home Show and the Wenatchee Festival of Trees. They've volunteered at Central Washington Hospital and for the past six years as teaching assistants at East Wenatchee elementary schools. They've been poster girls for the Chelan-Douglas March of Dimes fundraising campaign. They were awarded the Spirit of America award by the local Take Pride in America group in 2006 for their many volunteer efforts.

"I don't even think of myself as being in a wheelchair," said Heidi, the more talkative of the two sisters. "I know I am, but I'm not. It's just normal."

"I can admit that I hated being in a wheelchair. I would cry. I wish I could walk," said Heather, adding with a smile, "I'm OK with it now. My goal is to walk. If I don't, I'll get married and have my husband carry me."

Cindy said she encourages the girls to fight the depression that can come with their condition and makes sure they get out of the house regularly to interact with others.

"I tell them to remember to radiate sunshine," Cindy said. "If you radiate sunshine everyone wants to be around you. If you radiate storm clouds, who wants to be around a storm?"

A rare condition, twice

Cindy Flowers had never heard of spina bifida when she found out her firstborn child was born with the condition 28 years ago. She was 22 years old and thought having a baby was as simple as going into the hospital to deliver and then coming home a day later with a newborn.

Instead, there were complications. Cindy was admitted to Central Washington Hospital for an early Caesarean section delivery. She was told her 3-pound daughter had spina bifida. While Cindy stayed at Central, her newborn, Heather, was taken to a Seattle hospital.

"It was very difficult to hear the other mothers with their babies and not have mine. I didn't even know what spina bifida was," Cindy said.

A year later, she knew all too well. Heather had spent much of that time in the hospital undergoing numerous operations. When Cindy became pregnant again, she consulted doctors early about the chances of having a second child with the birth defect. Doctors assured her that would be extremely rare. Only one in 1,200 babies are born with spina bifida. It's nearly unheard of that two would be born in the same family. She underwent several tests before the birth that showed her second child would not have the defect. The tests were wrong.

"It was devastating," she said. "It's very sad when both of your babies have something wrong with them."

The following years were difficult. The girls underwent dozens of operations to correct the many complications that come with seriously abnormal development of the spinal cord. Both girls had steel rods planted in their backs to reduce curvature of spine. Doctors had hoped there would be something they could do to enable the girls to walk, but that wasn't the case. Cindy's husband couldn't handle the strain of raising his two daughters. His drinking became worse and he was uninvolved as a parent, Cindy said. As the girls grew older, Cindy tried to get her daughters out as often as possible so they wouldn't become reclusive and depressed and so they could see themselves as valuable members of the community.

Unconditional love, full time

Fast forward 27 years, more than 175 operations, a divorce and thousands of miles of travel between East Wenatchee and Seattle hospitals. Cindy is the full-time caregiver for her two daughters who are on state disability. That provides the trio with some income in addition to the custodial service they perform each weeknight with Cindy's parents for Oneonta Trading Corp. in Wenatchee.

Cindy drives the girls to doctor's appointments, volunteer work and teaching assistant roles each day in their well-used 1991 Dodge van. They go out to country and gospel music concerts, Seattle Mariners games and every local sporting and entertainment event they can fit it. They go everywhere together. "We're like three peas in a pod," Cindy said.

Their modest two-bedroom house has a wheelchair ramp to the front porch, but otherwise is poorly adapted to handicapped use. Although they've lived in the house 20 years, Cindy still pays $1,200 a month on a second mortgage. That leaves her little money for home improvements. The best thing, she said, may be to knock down the 1940s house and replace it with a manufactured home. They made a video last year and sent it to the TV show "Home Makeover," but never received a response. "There are a lot of people with greater needs," Cindy said.

Cindy helps the girls with daily sponge baths or lifts them in and out of the bathtub because the shower in the tiny bathroom isn't handicapped accessible. She lifts them on the kitchen counter each morning to wash their hair in the sink. She cooks all their meals because they're not tall enough in their wheelchairs to use the stove safely.

The girls share one small bedroom. Its walls are covered with autographed photos of the country musicians they've gone to hear. Heather sleeps on a special air mattress with its own compressor so she doesn't injure her spine. Their mom lifts both girls into and out of their beds at night and helps them dress each morning and evening. A baby monitor in the room lets Cindy check on the girls' breathing through the night. Both were diagnosed two years ago with sleep apnea. A breathing device now makes sure they have enough oxygen to sleep through the night, but Cindy still fears the machines will stop working.

"It's a full-time job 24 hours a day. To get a solid three hours of sleep is rare," she said. The girls can be left home alone for awhile in the afternoons if Cindy needs to run errands. Occasionally, she will ask a friend or relative or hire another caregiver to stay with the girls for awhile. "But it's hard for me to ask someone else to do what I'm supposed to do as a mom.

"I think God gave me Heather and Heidi for a reason. I think He was looking down on me and thought, 'She would be a good mom,' " she said. "They're special and unique. They've shown me unconditional love."

Heather said she and her sister wish they could do more for themselves so their mother didn't have to strain her back lifting them so often.

"She's been with me through everything, so many times in the hospital," added Heather. "I'm not sure I'd want to live without her, but she always tells us not to give up. She's a good mom. She's the best. I love her."

Rick Steigmeyer: 664-7151

steigmeyer@wenworld.com