Splendid Mayhem: Mission: FOUND!!!!

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.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Mission: FOUND!!!!

I am SUPER excited over this! I FINALLY found a bra to fit. I have probably spent well over 10 hours shopping for a bra. I can retire my bandaides (yea, I was going bra-less, wearing only bandaides- so pathetic- this I know) Saturday evening a girlfriend and I went to Victorias Secret (I spent 2 hours there the week before looking, finding nothing!) However, the trick. I was told the wrong size the 1st time I went in and was measured. So, my bra shopping misery was caused b/c some chick told me to shop for a 34D. When I put on that size Saturday and told the lady to come in and tell me what was wrong (I was wearing a dress, so when she came in I was in a bra and black thongs. She looked at me like "girl, put on some clothes!") She quickly said, "honey- this bra is far to small for you. You are falling out of it." I was like, lady This is a D!!!! So, she got me a DD and it fit great. Of course, I got the whole "a bra will never fit YOU the same ever again b/c they are made for 'real' breasts" speech, but- ya know-- I found one~ I'm good for now!!!! I tried on some lingerie... that's a whole 'nother story. I have no idea how I am ever going to find a 34DD top and small bottom!!!!!!