Waverly's Weekend Adventure

January 29, 2012

Waverly's Weekend Adventure

Waverly was at Jill's House this weekend. As usual, she was thrilled to arrive and all smiles as we entered the door Friday evening. We saw some of our favorite childcare specialists and nurses at check-in. Wavey was whisked away for a weekend of fun. Friday night is fairly low key for the kids. Bags are unpacked, night time routines are followed and the kids settle into their rooms for the night. Saturday is filled with activities - time in the gym, out on the playground, in the pool, movie time in the pod, music & art. They also had a visit from some sea creatures and Waverly was able to touch a starfish. Sundays are filled with much of the same activities, keeping her busy and happy until pick up time in the evening. They told us she especially enjoyed the swing and playing on the ipad with a friend. They also said when they told her she was going to see Oliver she started cracking up.

We are always counting down the hours until we are able to pick her up. Tonight was no exception. Lots of smiles and giggles all around. We are so thankful to Jill's House for providing us with some much needed respite. For allowing us to make some special memories with Oliver. And for giving Waverly a weekend of fun.

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.