Many

     When you first have children your life opens up to a world of possibilities: new people, new activities, new places, new friends; so much is new and a family first. And when you have children with extraordinary needs, your world becomes even bigger and also much smaller. Dreams are rearranged, goals are altered sometimes hopes are dashed but still as parents, we wish and pray and even hope for simpler futures, for baby steps with big outcomes. At our house we count up days that are seizure-free, nights of good sleep, outings that are special because of the presence of friends or family. For some families these things are not yet theirs: seizures are ongoing, sleep is hard won and outings are few because of a lack of understanding and acceptance in the world outside. And some families are dealing with much bigger daily issues: heart surgeries, feeding tubes, wheelchairs and endless hospital stays. The list of trials many families face goes on and on....
     But there is help in many cases: respite for parents, educational assistants at school, programs and facilities, teachers, doctors, helpers, coaches and volunteers. We have come across some very special people as a result of our daughter's different abilities, more than we could possibly mention or even count. And this is how our world is made big, by the people who help. As our daughter takes steps toward adulthood and independence, she takes those steps with the support of so many helping hands. Many helping hands do not mean that she won't fall--- she almost certainly will. Many helping hands mean that she will have a great deal of help to get back up and keep moving forward.

Friend

     Want to know something? Things are going well for our older daughter.... She is almost four months past her last major seizure, a real bad one which landed us in emergency and it is over two months since her last seizure--- period. This is huge for us and means that despite my carpenter husband`s recent shop accident, we are all breathing a little easier. Our daughter is volunteering at two different thrift stores and at her church`s Sunday school this summer. She is going to her second camp of the summer: a sleep-over camp for kids with epilepsy and she is really looking forward to it. But finally the most important and life-changing aspect of her life is the presence of friendship. Since joining Special Olympics and Challenger Baseball our daughter has made a few friends and this has made all the difference in the world. There is a spring in her step and a sparkle in her eyes that was absent for some time. Having a guy friend and a girl pal to go to the movies with, to swim with, or to just hang out with has made an incredible difference in the way that our daughter moves through life. A mother I know whose daughter struggles with depression said to me ``A mother is only as happy as her saddest child.`` I know this to be true. I also know that our children`s happiness is the most important aspect of life barring their health. When these two factors walk hand in hand in a positive direction then the world can be a beautiful place to be.