Thanksgiving in PA

November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving in PA

We have returned from a trip up to PA to visit family. It was so nice to have time away with everyone. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My mom makes a FANTASTIC meal and we ate so well. Plus, we got slices from our favorite pizzeria.

We hadn't seen my sister and her family for a few months. She has 4 beautiful kids who were so incredibly sweet with Waverly on this visit. I think she has taken the time to explain why Waverly is different and they just accepted her. I was so thankful to see such understanding and compassion from children. Matt and I were moved to tears by their love for our sweet little kids.

Waverly had a tough few days. I think the new environment and all of the people were a little too much for her. But, after she adjusted she did well. I think my entire family saw the changes that I have talked about. Waverly was much less interactive with everyone and just seemed to be in her own little world.

Oliver loved being with his cousins. His almost 4 year-old cousin loved to "pet" him and walk around the house guiding him around. It was adorable.

I am so thankful for my family and the love they show to Waverly & Oliver.

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.