Splendid Mayhem: Blog Safety Changes

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, November 30, 2008

Blog Safety Changes

I've read some things recently on Blog Safety. I've changed my blog's address- Splendid Mayhem is the new name. Also, PLEASE do not use my last name when posting- or leaving comments. If you have me on your blog as a 'blog friend', please take my last name and/or location off the list. You are free to use Jessica or the blogs new address- but do NOT include the last name. I will be editing many things in the next week for safety purposes.

I have also changed my Blog Friends list so that it does not include any last names.
Thank you for your cooperation!

2 comments:

3LittleFlowersNovember 30, 2008 at 7:17 AM
Hey ... Just wanted to let you know that I removed the old blog and added this one... =)

Good job working with a safer blog and taking out your last name!!
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KieraNovember 30, 2008 at 10:23 PM
I updated my blog with your new address! I agree with keeping last names off of the blogs :)
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