Splendid Mayhem: Hey Guys!

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.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Hey Guys!

My internet is messed up AGAIN! I start work on Tuesday, I am very excited! I will also have the internet consistently!!!!! :) I will post a full on update hopefully by Wednesday. We had a realtor come last weekend, and I would like to post on that.

Happy Memorial Day!!!!

4 comments:

SheilaMay 25, 2008 at 8:16 PM
Hey Jess! I've been wondering where you've been. Good luck on Tuesday!
ReplyDelete
Replies
DawnMay 25, 2008 at 10:15 PM
Good luck with the new job. What does it entail?

Happy Memorial Day to you!
ReplyDelete
Replies
KieraMay 25, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Wow Jess! Congrats on the job! Sounds like there is a lot going on in your life right now! Keep us posted.

If you have not gotten it yet, you will be getting a package from me soon :) Enjoy!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 27, 2008 at 4:29 PM
I was wondering where you had disappeared to!! Good to "see" you post!!
GL with your job & can't wait to hear what the realtor had to say!!
ReplyDelete
Replies