Faith's Mom's Blog

It is yet another cold, blustery day on the Northern Plains. The temperature may be above zero, but the wind makes it biting cold. Personally, it is not the kind of weather in which I want to be pushing a wheelchair. Frankly, I probably wouldn't even be able to push a wheelchair through this wind especially over the snow-drifted sidewalks and icy patches. That's where my friend, Tina comes in. She has truly saved the day more than once this winter. It was in December during a cold snap that Tina noticed me pushing a very bundled up Faith to school. Her heart went out to us and that night she asked her husband to take one of the seats out of their van so they could transport Faith to school. Tina called me and wanted to try it. Although I admired her enthusiasm, I had my doubts that it would work. Faith's chair was heavy, and we were going to have to lift it up into her van. Plus, I didn't know if Faith was going to sit very well in one of her daughter's car seats....

In the waiting room, at pediatric therapy, I am known as Faith's mom. Just as others are known as Ashley's grandma, Luke's grandma, Chloe's mom, Abby's caretaker. At first, we were just a familiar face to one another. But as our children and grandchildren came for therapy more and more, we began to talk. We compared stories. We asked each other questions. Our waiting time has now become social hour. We have become our own little community - supporting one another, offering prayers and talking to those who know exactly what we go through. It's not just the parents, grandparents and caretakers who share a special connection with one another. It's also the three receptionists who sit behind the desks. Some children, like Faith, have been going to therapy for years. They know our backgrounds and they know when we aren't feeling well. Most of all, they know and understand our children. They laugh at the children's stories, and they cry too when one of t...

I opened it with curiosity . Faith's name along with our address were on the outside of the envelope with a first name scrawled in the left-hand corner. I smiled as I read the contents. It was Faith's first invitation to a party. As I looked at the time and date of the party I felt almost relieved that we would have a good excuse for Faith not to attend. The Halloween party was scheduled for October 25 th - the same day Faith would be having her birthday party. Sure, I was excited about Faith being invited to a party by one of her classmates. But it also caused a little anxiety wondering how the details were going to be worked out. How handicapped accessible was their home? If there were going to be lots of kids attending, how would Faith handle all the noise? Was the Halloween party going to be too scary for her? Well, not to worry because Faith wouldn't be going anyway. A few days later, before I had gotten a chance to call Faith's classmate's mother to tell ...

Faith turned six years old yesterday. And to celebrate how far she's come in those six years, we decided to have a not-so-little celebration. There were lots of guests, lots of gifts, lots of cupcakes and most of all, lots of love.  We are amazed at how many lives our daughter touches in a special way. She receives so much love and generates it back to those around her. Her smile brightens people's day, her laugh makes people laugh along with her, her joy is contagious. My husband and I are so thankful for the gift of her life - a life that He entrusted us to care for since the day she was born on October 25, 2003. We knew there would be challenges. We knew there would be tears. We knew there would be exhaustion. We didn't know, though, how much joy there would be. And yesterday, seeing Faith surrounded by friends - children and adults alike - family and even a few people in our building who don't know her all that well, brought gladness to our hearts. It was so wond...

When I heard that both Toy Story movies were going to be showing at a theater near us, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for Faith to make her movie theater debut. The reason we have not attempted to take her to a movie is because she is very sensitive to loudness and sudden noises cause her to startle.  When she startles, she is not able to contain herself and her muscles tighten, she jumps, and her arms curl up toward her chest. Sometimes when she startles too much she gets upset and starts to cry. I figured, though, that since she has seen Toy Story 1 and 2  endless amounts of times at home, there wouldn't be any surprises to cause her to startle since she would know what was coming next. Faith with some of her toys, including Woody and Buzz. (Photo taken in 2008) We got to the movie theater fairly early thinking it would be a good idea for Faith to get used to her surroundings. When we got into the right show room, there was music playing over the speakers a...