Catching Up

November 04, 2007

Catching Up

Sorry about our absence, but we are back. Here is a photo from Halloween - I think the kids look so cute in their costumes. I just had to post one more. All is well in London. Last week we had the movers come to take away the Embassy furniture from our living room. We are now 4 sofas & chairs lighter. The room looks much nicer and finally feels like home. This weekend the Brits are celebrating Guy Fawkes Day. We were worried when we heard what sounded like gun fire, then relief set in when we remembered it was only fireworks. We think we have finally settled into a church and this morning we found 2 other families that I know from playgroup who also attend. We ended up walking to a local park together and letting the kids play. It was wonderful!! Birthday season is upon our household. Waverly, Matt and I all celebrate our birthdays within the next 10 days. We will also be taking a trip to Disneyland Paris soon to celebrate Waverly's 4th birthday. We are SO excited to watch her while she takes in everything - she is going to be amazed.

Comments

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.