Splendid Mayhem: How Cool!

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.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

How Cool!

I installed a new program on my blog in January. It tells me who visits my blog (not as in your name, just your location~ your state and country) Here is something I've learned:
The date below is from February 4, 08 to March 5, 08.
I've had 2 visits from Germany! (YAY)
109 visits from Canada
7 from Belize
Texas has stopped by 39 times
Get the picture?

I have NOT had any visitors from Maine, Louisana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, South Dakota, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and a few others- so if you know anybody from those states- can ya tell them to stop by? I'd like to have atleast 1 visitor per state by 2009 :)
Thanks! Love & Hugs Blog Fam- J

2 comments:

BarbaraMarch 6, 2008 at 8:07 PM
Hi there, I've enjoyed reading your blog. Your boys are so handsome! Thanks for the link on your site to my story (Bennett's Blog) and for the warm welcome on the Baby Center CP board.
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Andrea "The H family"March 7, 2008 at 3:30 PM
You'll get them honey.
High life drama demands tons of hits!
LOL
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