Did you know there are 1 million people in the United States who have cerebral palsy? I guess that means Faith truly is one in a million! Faith was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was six months old. Prior to that, she had been given the diagnosis of Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL). During her premature birth, there was a lack of oxygen to her brain, which resulted in damage to the white matter, or inner part of her brain. I will never forget receiving that news. Faith's Dad and I were told that nobody knew what the long-term effects of PVL would look like for her. All I could do was stare at my tiny daughter lying in her isolette, hooked up to all kinds of tubes and lines, and choose to believe she would be okay. Faith in the NICU a few days after she was born. After over 70 days in the NICU, we finally took her home to Watford City. There, she would receive regular visits from an Early Intervention team who would assess her and ensure that she met al...
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
A Wonderful Weekend Getaway
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
-
This past weekend, Faith and I
both got to experience the Medora Musicaltogether - for the first time ever!
We went with my dad and sister. The singing and dancing definitely met our
expectations. After the National Anthem, some of the first songs they sang
included, "Let's Hear it for the Boy" and "Dancing on the
Ceiling." Both songs were a great and energetic way to start the show.
Faith was super excited, nearly dancing out of her chair! One reason she could
hardly contain her excitement was that a few of the performers (Adam and
Taylor) go to our church! The storytelling in between the musical numbers
described how the little "cow town" of Medora came to be, as well as
the influence that Theodore Roosevelt had in North Dakota.
View from our seats!
Close up of the performers.
Auntie Dawn and Grandpa
During the song, "Paint Your
Dreams Across the Sky" by Dolly Parton, the cast invited the children to
join them onstage. I wasn't expecting one of the cast members to come up and
stand by Faith to sing. It was super sweet, but unfortunately, I didn't get a
picture. They also sang "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," along with a
medley of gospel songs.
There were country songs and funny songs, too, that got
the crowd laughing and clapping along. One that I remember was "40 Cups of
Coffee." The entertainment also included a trick roping cowboy and another
one yodeling.
We were thoroughly enjoying the
show when I noticed a shift in the weather. It had been bright and sunny upon
arrival, but it had changed to cloudy and windy. Just as they were about to get
into the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, one of the ushers came over to us and
said they were going to call the show in five minutes if we wanted to get ahead
of the crowd to the elevators. I thought it was very kind of him to give us a
heads up, but I was also very disappointed.
Sadly, we didn't get to see much of the lumberjack show.
When we got up to the parking
lot, my sister Dawn pushed Faith as fast as she could to the van and just as
they got there, it began to rain. Just after the four of us piled inside the van,
it began to downpour.
Since we were just sitting there, I got a feeding going
for Faith. After the traffic cleared, we sadly made our way to Dickinson. All
was not lost, though, as there were some gorgeous rainbows in the sky. I have
never seen so many of them in such a short time span!
Bad weather heading straight for us.
The rain was coming down hard!
Videos by Michael Lawlar
Beautiful double rainbow heading from Medora to Dickinson (photo by Dawn Lawlar)
After getting to Dickinson, we
found a place to eat. It was called "Sanford's" and when we pulled
into the parking lot, Dawn and I realized it was the same restaurant we had
eaten at when we had traveled to Watford City about 3 years ago.
Once we were done eating supper,
we made our way back to the hotel and started Faith's evening routine. It had
been quite a day. I was so proud of Faith for how she was handling the
traveling and the disappointment with the musical ending early.
Waiting patiently for her chocolate milkshake!
Being udderly silly!
The next day after checking out,
we set out for our next adventure: a visit to the Dickinson Museum Center where they had the Badlands Dinosaur
Museum. Faith loves dinosaurs and she couldn't wait to get a new shirt for
T-Rex Thursday at her day program.
It was fun to look at the bones and try to
imagine what it was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth. There were also
numerous displays of minerals from all over the world, some of which were
fluorescent.
We also explored the Joachim
Regional History Museum and Dad even asked if they could open up the Pioneer
Machinery Hall, which they sometimes don't do on Sundays depending on how busy
it is. Faith was a little bored with some of the history stuff, so she and Dawn
ventured to the gift shop where she helped her auntie pick out stuffed dinosaur
toys for her grandkids. After all that, we hit up the A&W/KFC and made our
way back to Bismarck.
Dinosaurs and fossils galore!
Faith didn't look too scared!
Faith checking out the cool fluorescent fossils.
I told Faith this is how Laura from Little House travelled.
Grandpa was super impressed with this old tractor.
Getting Faith to the Medora
Musical was something I have been wanting to do for a long time and with the
improved accessibility at the venue, along with help from my sister, we were
able to make it happen! I was also very thankful that Faith's grandpa could
accompany us. I was so happy to be driving to western North Dakota, as that
will always be home to me.
The end of July was a great time to head west as
golden round bales dotted the landscape and the corn, sunflower, and wheat
crops were flourishing. The Badlands looked so beautiful, and we even passed by
a large herd of bison. It truly was a wonderful weekend getaway!
Guest Post by Stephen Gallup Last week, a columnist for the local newspaper interviewed me in connection with a memoir I wrote that’s being published this year. It was a comfortable, low-key discussion in which he asked about the basic facts regarding my disabled son Joseph and what I’ve learned that might be of value to other families. It was the sort of dialog that required no special preparation in advance. I just sat down with him and talked about the subject closest to my heart. But looking back on it now, one thing bothers me. In concluding the interview, the reporter expressed heartfelt sympathy for everything I’ve endured. He was being more than polite. I mean, he laid the compassion on with a spatula. Startled, and already thinking ahead to what I had to do next that day, I just thanked him and said goodbye. But now that final note troubles me. I don’t want sympathy! First of all, from the point of view of a new author hoping to promote his book, sympathy...
Did you know there are 1 million people in the United States who have cerebral palsy? I guess that means Faith truly is one in a million! Faith was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was six months old. Prior to that, she had been given the diagnosis of Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL). During her premature birth, there was a lack of oxygen to her brain, which resulted in damage to the white matter, or inner part of her brain. I will never forget receiving that news. Faith's Dad and I were told that nobody knew what the long-term effects of PVL would look like for her. All I could do was stare at my tiny daughter lying in her isolette, hooked up to all kinds of tubes and lines, and choose to believe she would be okay. Faith in the NICU a few days after she was born. After over 70 days in the NICU, we finally took her home to Watford City. There, she would receive regular visits from an Early Intervention team who would assess her and ensure that she met al...
Last year, when I heard the news that Pat Sajak was retiring from Wheel of Fortune , I knew I better prepare Faith. When season 41 began, I told her, "This is Pat's last season. Next year, there will be a new host." Faith likes Vanna but loves Pat! Faith and I have faithfully watched Wheel of Fortune every night since she was about 5 years old. It's how she learned that AEIOU were vowels. The show was also a great way to reinforce the rest of the alphabet. Counting was reinforced, too. When Vanna turned the letters, she counted how many T's, N's, or other letters there were. She also learned some geography skills with the different trips they gave away. Upon winning a trip to Aruba, she would ask, "Where's that?" Sometimes I honestly didn't know and had to look it up. More often than not, the prize was somewhere in the Caribbean! I have tried through the years to get her to watch other game shows, but she has only been interested in Wheel...
February started out as it typically does: very cold! This year, my parents and sister braved the weather to have a small get together for my birthday. Faith thought I needed another party like I had last year, but I told her 51 just wasn't as exciting! She also asked if her Auntie Tesa was going to fly up again. Faith really does love a good party! Accurate! Dawn, Faith, and Me Dad practicing holding his arm for after shoulder surgery The next day, my parents took me to IHOP , which had recently opened here in Bismarck, but I hadn't had a chance to go yet. It did not disappoint. My pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns and coffee were all perfect! I was glad to have gotten this meal in with my parents as two days later, my dad would be going through shoulder replacement surgery. We were all expecting him to be in and out on the same day, which is exactly what happened a couple of years ago when he had knee replacement surgery. I, along with my siblings, was shocked t...
You just took us on the trip. Wonderful!
ReplyDelete