This is a story of rescue from a sea of stress... As so often happens, the Scripture readings in today’s daily devotional don’t just speak to my heart, they SHOUT OUT LOUD. From Psalm 88: “I am overwhelmed with troubles…” My husband Wally and I have known for a few weeks that our 31-year-old son’s day program is closing its doors next March. Day programs that fit Joel’s unique … [Read more...]
Our Time in this Life Is a Precious Gift
Sometimes during our journey as parents of children with a disability, we become consumed with an overwhelming feeling that we’re just not doing enough to help them succeed, believing that somehow it’s our fault. This can happen for no apparent reason. We even feel that no matter what we do, things just aren’t going to change and, too often, we are paralyzed with guilt if we even consider taking … [Read more...]
When Our Children with Disabilities Rise to the Occasion
(For Dana) T.S. Eliot wrote that April is the “cruellest month.” Not for me. I find it’s barren February, with its unkind cold, and in which month I have known too many men of character who have died recently, and long past. At 6’7” with a perpetual mustache, bright blue eyes, and a voice like a thunderclap, Boyd Salsbury cut an imposing profile. His demeanor was gruff, his words carefully … [Read more...]
The Nature of Things
At 9:30 in the morning, the small swish of paper brushing across my bedroom’s wooden floor woke me. My husband Matt was at the Ravens game with some friends. There had been an early curtain call for the pre-game frivolity, so he’d been gone for some time. The night before had been a late one, and I’d overslept. Meaning, I was already frustrated. Unless there’s a nuclear winter and all the alarm … [Read more...]
She Calls Me Mama
She calls me what her brothers don’t. Because they are boys, most likely, or perhaps because they are impatient and "MOM!" hollered from somewhere else is easier to get out of their mouths. Loudly. Grace is walking up the stairs, calling my name before she reaches the top. But it’s not the “Mom!” of Noah’s tween insistence. It’s her calling, “Mama?” It is sweet and gentle. And it lasts only … [Read more...]
The Lovely Wreckers
My mother used to say, “I can’t have anything nice with kids in the house!” She didn’t so much say it as she did wail it. We were the kids who came swinging in through the kitchen window feet first from the eaves of the roof, or accidentally lit the garage on fire. The security system in the house was basically just a trigger mechanism for the neighbor’s rage. His first thought, I’m guessing, … [Read more...]