Waverly's Memorial Service

December 10, 2015

Waverly's Memorial Service

We had many people say they wish they could have joined us for Waverly's memorial service and those present commented how meaningful the service was for them. I'm sharing the link for those who weren't able to join us in celebrating her life and grieving her loss.

Comments

Messy and Wonderful said…

What a beautiful service. I've been reading your blog for years. The slideshow at the end was very powerful. May God bless you tenfold.

December 11, 2015 at 1:35 AM

Anonymous said…

I loved the photo montage at the end - you have captured so many lovely moments with Wavey - such a gorgeous child. Though to this moment one of my favorites is the super-Wavey in her purple brace. I hope you can put it somewhere on the blog, it is so beautiful - particularly seeing all four of you together. This is how I will remember Wavey even if I never met her.

I hope wherever she is now, she knows how many lives she touched.

Kimmy

December 15, 2015 at 5:25 AM

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.