Curled Up With a Book

January 22, 2010

Curled Up With a Book

Matt and I were both shaken last night with the news of Joey's passing. I wanted to hold on a little tighter to them and capture more moments. Waverly loves being read to, but only certain books that she enjoyed as a toddler. One of her favorites is a collection of Winnie the Pooh stories. I read them to her last night and then she wanted to look at the book all by herself. She looked sad last night. I think she is still slowly recovering from being sick, but there was a look of sorrow in her eyes. I can't explain it.

Oliver was as wild as ever. This is the only shot that wasn't all blurry. He loves being thrown around by Matt. He was all smiles and giggles.

Comments

Cari said…

her eyes are true windows into her beautiful soul

January 22, 2010 at 3:56 PM

Jody Fernando said…

Thanks for sharing. I continue to keep your family deeply in my prayers.

January 23, 2010 at 12:07 PM

Anonymous said…

Shannon,

You always capture such beautiful moments in your children's lives:) I love the one of Wavey in black and white--she's just gorgeous. I'm sorry to hear about Joey...I can only imagine how that has shaken you and Matt. Know that Joey's family and yours continue to be in my prayers.

Julie Helman,
London

January 23, 2010 at 2:59 PM

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.