Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley. c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved.
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.
I can not wait to get down to Thatcher and see this temple! I have never been to the temple with my grandma whom I am very close with. This would be such a great opportunity to go with her and attend a session because it is so close to her house. She has a view of this temple right outside her kitchen window and I just can't wait to go see her and experience this with her. Our family has such a great history in Thatcher. Some of my fondest memories of childhood are of our times spent in Thatcher. My great, great, great, great grandfather settled the town of Thatcher and both of my parents grew up there. This is also where I attended Eastern Arizona College. I would go to my grandparents house everyday for lunch and I grew very close to my grandma in those times. She is such an example of charity and her pure love of Christ strengthens me everyday. She is an amazing woman and I can only hope that I become even half of the woman she is. I love her so much.
So sweet! She looks adoreable!
ReplyDeleteAnd OMG Im still laughing at your pinewood derby post!!!! Hillarious! Way to go Wil...I mean Mitch ;)
I LOVE your grandma Court! Give her a big kiss and hug from me next time you see her :)
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