“This photo is what we aim for — a happy, calm, contented Josh — the snapshot that we choose to share, but the everyday reality is far from this picture.” Here we go again, I say to myself, trying...
Written By: Amy Schlueter A couple months ago I wrote here about Alex and empathy. How it’s starting to emerge more. But it’s definitely a work in progress. Case in point…… Last week I had the...
As written by Melissa Gill from her blog page @My Journey With Jackson I honestly never realized how coping with Jackson’s extreme needs would affect me physically. I had read about the effects from...
I descended the stairs, immediately irritated by what was awaiting me with each scream originating from my 15-year-old son. Great, I muttered as the uninvited stench rose to greet my nose. Luke, my...
“This is holy work,” I begrudgingly reminded myself a day after returning home from a much needed vacation; a week of relaxation, sun, and reconnecting with my husband, and here I was now, again,...
Luke has been back in school for about a week now. Experts claim that special needs caretakers often experience PTSD, and I particularly notice this tendency when I don’t have him on my radar for an...
I often struggle to understand or explain Luke’s thought process to others. Luke, my 15 year old primarily non-verbal son with profound special needs. Friends, bystanders or even specialists will...
A few weeks ago, on a particularly warm summer day, Ryan and I announced to our crew – Kids! You’ve been so helpful lately and did your chores without complaining so we’re going to have a family fun...
It can be difficult to understand the complexities of raising a special needs child if this calling is not part of your daily reality. I get it. I never gave these children nor their caretakers a...
Dear mama with normal children, Normal? Typical? What’s politically correct you might wonder? As do I and – What is normal anyway? Honestly, I’m not sure because I’m tired. And I don’t spend my free...
How many times have Ryan and I watched from a distance – mostly online – as a special needs family spent weeks or even months in the hospital with their child, and we said to each other – gosh,...
“You and Ryan seem so calm” A phrase I often heard when Luke was in PICU for almost 4 weeks this past December and into January. We probably appeared calm because we’ve experienced the worst case...