The silence stings. Absence is all I hear…Your laughter no longer reverberates through the house.For now, it only whispers in my heart and I long with all my beingto hear more, louder, explosive you.The chaos is gone. Yet you remain The beautiful fractals of excitement, impatience, joy, and love are flat and cold.Normal is abnormal... Continue Reading →
Left
I confess. I lost myself for a while. When someone would ask how I was I would begin speaking about how the boys were or my mom or my husband. I have one friend who would always stop me and ask, "but how are YOU?" I never really knew how to answer that question. I... Continue Reading →
Three Minutes
I've been thinking a lot about grace, mercy, and forgiveness lately.Last week I got a phone call disguised as my worst nightmare as the parent of a non verbal child with special needs. The voice on the other end used words…Adult protective services…Complaint of neglect…Investigating whether substantial…An incident on May 3…A person hired to care... Continue Reading →
Co-inhabitants
Yesterday at Costco Wesley walked along pushing the cart. We began to pass a man who had what appeared to be a child, perhaps 6 or 7, sleeping in the cart when he suddenly stopped to engage Wesley. With a gigantic smile, he held out his fist to give him knuckles."Hi buddy!" he said as... Continue Reading →
Even for a 20 year old
Every morning I dress my 20 year old son. Wesley was born with significant special needs and is incapable of assisting with dressing himself. My morning starts with coaxing a sometimes cooperative but more often than not uncooperative man to the bed to change. I clean the wound for his g-tube and apply dressing. Next,... Continue Reading →
My Mother’s Robe
When I was a child I could not, for the life of me, fall asleep on my own. I felt particularly fearful at night. It was the time when the distractions were gone and my mind had room to roam to all sorts of horrific scenarios like monsters under the bed or alien invasions or... Continue Reading →
I trust You…
I was rearranging my seven year old's room for what felt like the millionth time. He has a bunk bed that has a ladder on one side and a slide on the other. While he was sitting on the top bunk I took the slide down for a few moments. As I was trying to... Continue Reading →
My Father’s Voice
When I was a child and would ask my father the definition of a word he would never give me the answer. He would present me with another question. "What do you think it means?" he would ask me. I would reply "I don't know. That is why I am asking." His next statement was... Continue Reading →
Embracing Our Brokenness
I recently had the honor of sharing my testimony with the Ministry for Women at my church. The audio is below. I'm sharing mostly because friends had asked to hear but, honestly, I can't figure out how to share it with anyone who does not have gmail. At any rate, this is part of my... Continue Reading →
Two Roads
My life often feels like this picture. I travel the rough road on the right while almost everyone I know travels the left. My road is bumpy and at times treacherous. There are places where there are no lines and days I don't even know if I am on the correct side. Potholes appear suddenly... Continue Reading →