Old Friends

Old Friends

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with some very dear friends. We realized that we have known each other 20 years (gasp!). 2 of the girls are in LA and the other is in PA. We were able to organize a one night event for all of us to get together, while the LA girls were visiting family out east. I was out the door as soon as Matt got home from work last night and I spent the evening (and into the wee hours of the morning) with my friends. I don't have a lot of friends here in DC, so it is always such a treat to have some girl time. We reminisced, laughed, cried, shared...it was terrific!! They also came over this afternoon for a bit to meet Waverly & Oliver. It was lovely being able to introduce my kids to them and to give them an idea of what home like is for our family. I think it provides my friends a much better idea of what my days entail and I feel understood.

I cried after they left. I miss having those close friendships...especially those that have such a full history. Life tends to get lonely for me. We feel isolated at times. But moments with friends are so good for my soul and sustain me until my next visit.

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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.