Living By Faith

This big boy rode in the shopping cart for the first time a few days ago. He did great at first but leaned back and got uncomfortable after a few minutes. He didn't like that and really wanted me to pick him up. I didn't want him to give up so quickly, so I made him sit and worked him into a better position (which wasn't easy since he was fussing and reaching out to be held). I felt bad for not picking him up, but it was well worth it, and he ended up doing pretty well. He thought he was big stuff by the time we left the store.

A neighbor's cat has adopted us and comes running to us when he hears us out on the swing set.


It follows Adam all around. Adam got it to climb up the steps to the slide with him and even got it into the screened in porch. I cracked up when Adam pondered what to do next with the cat. He sat down on the step and said, "What now, cat? Want to play ball?"

I had about 525 at this Saturday's seminar. This man come up to me on a break suggesting some books to me about grieving and loss. He said a lot of the thoughts could be applied to special needs. I wasn't really following him and didn't have time to ask questions so I asked him to write me a note so I could get the information he wanted me to have. At the end of the day, I was talking to someone else, and he handed me a piece of paper and said, "Reading List." He walked away & let me continue my conversation, and I didn't look at it until everyone had left. After reading it, I crumpled it up and threw it across the room, so I can't quote him, but it was a list of books on dealing with death and dying. He wrote that parents of kids with intellectual disabilities grieve over what their child will never be. I am just glad Levi is our kid and not his! Grrr.... What I grieve is people like that who don't value my child and can't imagine that someone else could. Sad. I know some parents do go through a grieving process as they deal with the shock, but come on!

On a happy note, there was a woman that I kept noticing as I presented all day. She glowed. She was an older woman, full of genuine joy, her bright eyes and natural smile caught my attention again and again. She came up to me on a break and said, "I am so happy for you. My daughter is 33, and she has Down syndrome. Let me just tell you. You are in for such a treat."

Too bad not everyone gets to have someone "special" in their lives. Maybe our special kids would be viewed differently in general if others benefited from knowing them..