Exploring Holland

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Showing posts from 2008

December 31, 2008

Goodbye 2008

December 30, 2008

Happy Birthday Oliver

December 28, 2008

Christmas Recap

December 26, 2008

Article

December 24, 2008

Christmas in DC

December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve

December 23, 2008

Music to my Soul

December 23, 2008

2 Days And Counting

December 22, 2008

With Gratitude

December 20, 2008

Bookworm

December 19, 2008

Success

December 18, 2008

Surgery

December 18, 2008

Arm Restraints

December 17, 2008

They Made The Cover!

December 17, 2008

Tired

December 16, 2008

Highlights

December 15, 2008

Disney Photos

December 15, 2008

You Tube Video

December 15, 2008

We're Back

December 06, 2008

Adios

December 05, 2008

Count Down

December 04, 2008

Exhausted

December 02, 2008

Friendship

December 01, 2008

Chewlery

November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving in PA

November 26, 2008

Road Trip

November 25, 2008

Appointments

November 25, 2008

School Party

November 23, 2008

Life in London

November 23, 2008

Pretty in Pink

November 21, 2008

Change

November 21, 2008

Way to Help!

November 21, 2008

Home Visit

November 20, 2008

Restraints

November 19, 2008

Classmates

November 18, 2008

Photos

November 17, 2008

Summary

November 15, 2008

Waverly's Past Birthdays

November 15, 2008

Happy Birthday Waverly!!!

November 14, 2008

Laughter

November 12, 2008

Recap

November 06, 2008

100,000

November 05, 2008

Thank You

November 04, 2008

Vote

November 03, 2008

Yet Another Video

November 03, 2008

Another Video

November 03, 2008

Monday, Monday

November 02, 2008

Baby Teeth

November 01, 2008

Happy All Saints Day!

October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!!!

October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!!!

October 30, 2008

Time

October 29, 2008

Tough Day

October 28, 2008

It Still Fits!

October 28, 2008

Neuro

October 27, 2008

Cardio

October 26, 2008

Keeping Busy

October 24, 2008

A Hundred For A Home

October 23, 2008

Video - Take One

October 23, 2008

Remembering

October 22, 2008

No Mouth

October 21, 2008

Swallow

October 20, 2008

Kindergarten

October 20, 2008

Moo!!!

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.