| She said his eyes looked like rainbows, and his skin like fine porcelain. He said that my son looked like a 'garden variety' kid to him. They said he was 'special' and I must have been special to have a child like this. I felt unprepared, ill-equipped and uninformed about the kind of future that lay before us. As the days and months and years have ticked by, I still get the same kinds of responses from people I know and love as well as strangers. I am less apt to hang on their words any more. I used to think that I had total responsibility for the way my kids turned out. I used to think that I would figure out how to teach him all I could. Now, I listen and wait to hear and see the important lessons he is going to teach me. To say that Danny has changed my life would be an understatement. I would have to say that his life has been an amazing curriculum for me and to my other children as well as others who touch our lives. We have encountered families with much greater heartache, children with much more painful and unpleasant challenges, and families who have been torn apart by a diagnosis. Each year that goes by, I am more sure that I don't have all the answers, but more than ever sure that I don't need to. Nothing could bring me more peace than knowing that I am not asked to 'fix' my child, I am only asked to love my child. God did not create this child and make a plan for his life to abandon him now. I want very much to do all that I can to advocate for him in ways that are meaningful to him, ideas and plans that facilitate a productive and healthy life for him. I am so glad to find this place where we can learn from each other, communicate with and encourage one another. |
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