Perspectives from Holland: November 2010

"Welcome to Holland"

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.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Fall 2010 at OneTrueMedia.com

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Best Buds

Before Luke was born we had no idea how the dogs would react. We figured Sophie would snuggle him and be the "mommy", and we prayed Ralphie wouldn't eat the kid. Little did we know that Ralphie and Luke would become best buds so quickly. Our nightly routine involves the two playing together and giving each other kisses. Even when Luke pokes him in the eye and tries to yank off his ears, Ralphie just snuggles in for more.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Daddy is Home!!

This weird thing happened tonight.....We were all home, the house was clean, there was very little homework or therapy to be done so we watched football. We miss nights like this. 25 days....

Happy Side Note: Patrick passed his physical fitness test today!!!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Luke's First Road Trip

Finally! For the first time since July, Patrick finally had a day off. Some people might clean the house, do laundry, or go grocery shopping, but who would do that when there is Christmas shopping to be done?!? We (Melissa) found an awesome deal at the Renaissance Hotel, Patrick's mom reminded us that a giant sample sale was taking place, and Luke was dying for his first road trip, so away we went. Between the Christmas shopping, finding Melissa a new wardrobe, eating at delicious restaurants, and enjoying a fancy hotel made the trip perfect. Speaking of perfect, Luke was a stellar little travel buddy. He conveniently took long naps during the drive, shopping extravaganzas and dinner Friday night - all key times. Here are some pictures from the mini-vacation:

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sleepy Boys

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Baby Professor

Nothing in this world is funnier than a baby in glasses.....until you have to try keep the dumb things on his face. Last week we visited Dr. Richards, a pediatric ophthalmologist, for Luke's 6 month NICU follow-up. The good news was that there was no damage from him being on oxygen at birth, but the bad news was that he needs glasses, and possibly surgery. We've been noticing his eyes crossing for the past few weeks, and the doctor said the only way to help is with glasses. Then, we'll re-evaluate in about 6 weeks and if there is no improvement, Luke will have that little outpatient surgery that they do on babies. Keep your fingers crossed the glasses work. More importantly, keep your fingers crossed that we can keep them on his face.

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