“Every one else gets to go places. I never get to go anywhere.”
In writing, these words seem like a petulant teen’s complaint to restrictive parents. In that case, they wouldn’t be a convincing argument.
In reality, these two sentences were spoken by my husband, and they were enough to change my mind.
It was back in July when my husband, Peter, first suggested a trip to Niagara Falls. Back then I gave several reasons why it was a bad idea including that the car ride was too long for our four-year-old autistic son, Philip, and that he might not enjoy the experience once we got there. Then my husband brought it up when we put some more money into car repairs-his “why spend all this money if we never drive this car anywhere?” argument. I pointed out that we had just spent money on the car. Peter persisted, asking when I would have some time off from work. I was hoping he would forget about the whole idea by the time I started my vacation during winter shutdown.
It’s like I had forgotten how stubborn he can be. …continue reading
Everyone reading here is familiar with situations where things don’t exactly go as expected. We all know the meltdowns, the tantrums, the refusals, the body drops. We also know the joys and the triumphs when things exceed our expectations. We all want those big family moments that others take for granted, but we’re always afraid about what we are going to get. At least that’s my problem (yes, I’m projecting a bit, but I’m pretty confident that I’m right).
My whole family was overjoyed in February when the phone rang with news that my brother had proposed to his girlfriend. They were planning a wedding 8 months away (yup, do the math….October). He is my only sibling and he is nearly 8 years my junior. My 3 children are his only nieces and nephews. He and his fiancé invited Big Brother and Music Man to be the ring bearers and Ballerina to be a flower girl (along with two of the bride’s cousins) for their big event an 11 hour drive away. Like I said, he is my only sibling and I love him dearly. And I love and genuinely LIKE her. There was no question that I was going to accept.
…continue reading
