Our son was six months old on his first Christmas. By then he'd racked up one ambulance ride, two surgeries, three hospital stays, three airplane trips (two of them life flights to the University of Nebraska Hospital and one airline flight to a scheduled doctor's appointment at the same medical facility), and dozens of 240 mile round trips to Rapid City for doctor's appointments and … [Read more...]
Peace Be With You
It’s three days before Christmas and I am at peace. There is no tree decorated in my living room. Gifts will be few and simple as a result of a tough financial year. There are no stockings hung by the chimney with care (an annual safety hazard I somehow justify year after year). And I haven’t even begun to think about what to fix for our Christmas dinner. I’m thinking “meat” might be one item on … [Read more...]
Condescension
Belittled by neighbors. Spoken down to by family. Treated less-than by those who have initials after their names or positions of authority. Sadly, this is a common experience for us who are raising children with special needs. "Experts" and commoners alike have no problem giving full-air to their opinions, unflinchingly telling us where they think we are going wrong. It is seriously … [Read more...]
Wait for it….wait for it…
“Have you heard of ‘reservation time’?” our counselor asked. I shot my husband a blank look. I had no idea what he was talking about. “The Navejo have a custom,” he explained, leaning forward in his chair. “Families often live far apart without telephones, so rather than show up unannounced on a neighbor’s doorstep, they drive their cars within hearing distance of their neighbor‘s property. They … [Read more...]
Sabbath Rest
Do you ever feel like a human doing instead of a human being? I do. (No pun intended!) Most of us, from the time our feet hit the floor in the early morning hours until we climb back into bed late at night, do not pause in our doing. It’s different for each of us, depending on what life stage we’re in, but it looks something like this: Make breakfast. Pack lunches. Clean up kitchen. … [Read more...]
