Splendid Mayhem: Thanks To Our Military Heros!

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.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Thanks To Our Military Heros!

I was reading Chrystie's blog this morning and she has a WONDERFUL thank you to the soldiers fighting for our nation. Yesterday was Memorial Day & I should have also written a heart filled thank you to these men & women. I copied and pasted some of her thank you b/c it was so wonderful & brought tears to my eyes! *Chrystie- I hope you don't mind!!*

"Today, it's about gratefulness.I am thankful for the men and women who have decided that defending their country (be it Canada or the US) is more important than financial gain. I am thankful for the men and women whose blood, sweat and tears are shed because they believe in protecting their nation. I am thankful for the families who kiss our soldiers good-bye, and somehow, let them go for months at a time.I remember thinking, in the dead of a Texas summer, when the mercury rose to well over 110 degrees, how this would be a cool summer day in Iraq. I looked down at my jean shorts and flip flops, and wondered what it would feel like to wear combat boots and full uniform in this kind of heat. Wow. I sweat just thinking about it.

I also often wonder if I'd ever be able to muster up the inner strength to kiss Richard goodbye for six months at a time. SIX MONTHS. Ellie wouldn't even remember who her daddy was after that amount of time. And thousands of families are dreading that day in the airport right now. Thousands of wives are pleading with God to keep their husbands safe yet another day.

And here I sit, in my air conditioned house, watching a good ole hockey game (Go Sens!), sipping my fresh coffee, knowing that my husband will be back from his hour-long trip to Canadian Tire any minute. Today, I thank the guys (both men and women) who have given me the ability to do all those things. I thank the guys who are are running the obstacle course in basic training. I thank the guys who are trying to sleep in a tent in the middle of the desert, when the overnight low is 100 degrees. I thank the guys who are holding down the fort in North America."

THANK YOU IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH!