Jill's House Got a New Client

December 23, 2012

Jill's House Got a New Client

Monday was a day we have all been waiting for. Oliver was *finally* able to stay at Jill's House. Since he turns 6 this month, he is eligible. He has been desperate to get through their locked doors and discover the playground, pool and bouncy houses. The day finally arrived. JH staff arrived at their school at the end of the day to pick up the kids for their school overnight. Oliver was thrilled to finally board the bus and easily climbed up into the front row. I couldn't believe how easily he separated from me, off on his own adventure. I heard wonderful reports from the JH staff. He had a fabulous time and fell asleep the second his head his pillow.

Matt and I spent part of the evening doing the interview with NPR. We then grabbed a quick dinner and headed home. We were both asleep early and excited to sleep the entire night without interruption.

Comments

Cheryl said…

When is the interview going to air?

December 25, 2012 at 12:17 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.