Although the pain fades, it never goes away. I will never forget the fear I had, the moment I realized something was different with Bridget. Having to take her to the ER on her fourth day of life and bargaining for her life. I just wanted her to live.
Now “I just want her to be normal” Continue reading
There are not a lot of Halloween books I have ever read Bridget. She loves the Big Pumpkin, but only when accompanied by the audio book, not in my voice. Then a friend sent me, Black Day by Marcus Sikora.
Bridget made a friend.
A for real friendship.
One not based on her IEP, her placement in a Special Education class.
A friendship not because her mom told her to be nice to the girl that’s not like the rest of the class. Continue reading
Love, we all want it. Some of us don’t realize how much we need it. I know I need reminders that love comes in different moments of my life. Sometimes I have to take a moment and give thanks for the love I am so very lucky to have in my life. Continue reading
If only there could be a conversation, rather than a debate about gun control. Let’s take the politics out of the conversation. Instead of having talking points designed to “stir up the base” what if both sides just took a moment and created a dialogue. If only we took out the extremes and found the middle ground. Imagine instead of reading this:
Pro-Gun Control: The NRA is killing your children and we must ban all guns
Anti-Gun Control: The Liberals are taking your guns and your children will be killed
Neither statement is true, in my opinion. The Pro/Anti monikers could be interchangeable with Anti-Gun and Pro-Gun ownership. Let’s take off the labels and consider instead the conversation went like this:
Person: I’m concerned about the amount of gun violence in our country. I feel there must be something we can do, as a society, to make our homes/schools/towns safer.
Person: I’m concerned about that as well (aside–who wouldn’t be?).
Imagine how the conversation would progress if we started as common stakeholders in our community’s safety? Continue reading
If we were having a glass of wine, I would tell you thank you. Thank you for being there for me this week. This week where I wondered how I was going to do it all, when life got too chaotic that I couldn’t think. This week when I was beyond down and you lifted me up. Continue reading
I have a license to carry a firearm. So does my husband. So do many of my friends. So know this at the tart: I promise I am not trying to take away your right to possess a firearm. What I am trying to do is make our legislature pass common-sense measures to make our society safer.
Consider what we, as a society, generally do when faced with viable threats:
A man boards a plane with a shoe bomb. We now take our shoes off at the airport.
Children suffer injuries in car accidents. Nationwide standards are created for proper restraint systems.
Drunk driving kills 25,000 people in 1980. MADD is formed and works with legislatures to pass laws to decrease drunk driving deaths by half in 2013. Continue reading
The Individualized Education Plan (IEP)—the meeting every parent looks forward to attending. Um, not exactly. I dread the IEP meeting; I am never sure what I should be asking versus what I need to be fighting for Bridget to receive. The IEP process is so involved. From the beginning of the process I get tripped up. It starts with what seems to be an innocent question: my input for our vision statement. Do you realize how difficult it is to come up with a vision statement for your child’s education? Try the exercise. Think to yourself: the vision statement for my child’s education experience it would include…
I’m hearing crickets. Continue reading
Recently in a Facebook group I was messaged by a participant that I was “part of the problem”. This person and I agreed on the topic but not the solution to the issue (more to come on that 10/21!). Here’s the thing:
I want to be a part of the problem.
If I’m not then I cannot be part of the solution. Continue reading
If we were having a glass of wine, I would tell you my weekend started in the best way possible. Sharing cold pizza (I swear it took 2 hours to arrive) at our town’s best bed & breakfast. While I didn’t spend the night, I returned on Sunday morning to piping hot pancakes, delicious french toast casserole and time spent with dear friends. Continue reading
(Un)Diagnosed and still okay 