Yesterday, I was able to share just a few minutes online with a soldier. This truly made my heart smile.
See, this soldier is also a dear friend of our family. His name is Bill Watson and he is fighting for our freedom today. Bill is also a husband and a father to a child with special needs. Allie, his baby girl, has Autism. Allie is verbal but limited in her verbal communications. She is a bright-eyed young lady who loves her daddy very much. And wouldn't you know it, when Daddy is able to use Skype for a video phone call, she talks to Daddy! And I will have you know Bill LOVES this.
Hearing his baby girl talk to him over the video phone call from literally thousands of miles away sustains his soul. Bill told me he 'needs' to talk to and see his baby girl. Don't get him wrong; he loves his wife April and his son Trevor...............but Allie? Well, if you have a child who does not verbalize often but does when she sees Daddy on the computer............How can that make your heart soar and sustain your soul until the next time?
As humans we take for granted all the "will be's" with our children. It is natural. We never hope for or expect a child with special needs or a disability. But when it happens, your world is changed; sometimes, your world is rocked to it's core. It is what you do with this blessing that will define you for the rest of your life.
Not everyone sees our kids as a blessing. Shamefully, often times, society sees our kids a burden, a pity, a blight in the unattainable perfection of what children are supposed to be born like. I cry for these ignorances because I know with every fiber of my being that every child is a perfect gift no matter their abilities.
If you are a new parent of a child with a disability and are struggling with the reality that is now your life; give yourself time. Grieve if you need too, yell if you need too, purge your heart and soul of any bitterness that you may experience. Then LOVE your child. LOVE this child with a fierceness you never knew you had in you. LOVE them and you will see your child. YOUR CHILD is a child first with a diagnosis medically placed on them. Advocate for your child, teach them all you can, never put them in a box, never underestimate their abilities, set the bar high for yourself and never stop achieving. Advocacy is my life now, it is the passion I never had the courage to chase until my son, Joseph, was born with Down syndrome. I love all of my boys, they are all special and I LOVE my son's Designer Genes. His life is not a burden to me, his life is the catalyst that set my life in advocacy in motion. Without him, I still would not know what I wanted to be when I grow up! LOL
Until next time, love your mommas, pray for our soldiers and relish in the sweetness that is your children.............
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