Parenting has taught me most of the important things I’ve come to know. Special needs parenting has been the extra icing on the cake AND the after-dinner mint.

In every way imaginable, in all of the places I didn’t think I could, I did.
In every way imaginable they said we couldn’t, we did.

In all the ways we were told we couldn’t thrive, we did it with dancing shoes on.

I see life as a series of choices amidst the experiences. How am I going to respond to being woke up at 3 am five nights in a row?

There is no foreseeable advancement in milestones or growth in sight but does that mean we lose hope? Considering my daughter is the only one of her kind on the planet, we had no path to follow going into this. We’ve been blazing the path together over the last almost 12 years. It’s been a bumpy road, one that I’ve driven mostly on my own. One that has cost me my health in a lot of ways– of which I am making a full recovery presently.

It’s easy to feel discouraged, with no help/family/community to turn to. And the world out there is quite inhospitable for my daughter, along with many of the people. So my daughter, son, and I have developed our own culture within our little family unit. It’s highly contagious because when we do leave the house, it is quite apparent that we *are* from somewhere else!

We make eye contact; we smile, wave, and say hello to strangers. When people stare at my daughter, I just smile at them.

Love has been our glue. Love has held me together when I’m falling apart. Love was what kept me going while I was laying in that hospital bed. Love is the very thing that keeps me hopeful. Love hurt when I was a child, but I knew that when I grew up and had children of my own, they would know that love is beautiful and compassionate because of me. Love isn’t meant to weigh you down and make you feel low. Love is meant to lift you up and encourage you. I believe love is the reason why my daughter is still here! She wasn’t even supposed to survive pregnancy. Love is like a magnet, drawing you nearer to where you belong. Love holds, but with open hands so the other person can grow.

I feel honored to have learned as much as I have and loved as hard as I have. I’d do it all over again.
But that’s just love, isn’t it?

Blessings xx