Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons! ************ "Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are." **************
"A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world." --Paul Dudley White
************ "Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired." - George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this… When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome To Holland”. “Holland?!?” you say, “What do you mean “Holland”??? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy” But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place. So you must go and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills…Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy…and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned”. And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away…because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But…if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things…about Holland.
16 comments:
Love the ones with the kids. darling.
happy weekend.
Thanks for the comment on my photo hunt. It was my first one to participate in and what fun it was! Your pictures are great too!
The glass hearts are cute!
Mine's up too :)
Lovely shots for the glass theme. The children are adorable.
The sunrays reflected on the glass building is nice :)
I can't help admiring the smiles of the 3 kids more!! They're adorable.
Have a good week ahead!
Lovely photos. Thanks for dropping by at my blog.
Have a fabulous weekend!
Nice shots and a great take on the theme!
Great pictures! Yes, I have some Venetian glass candies too! they're a lot of fun to collect. I've had eight trips to Venice. :)
Nice pictures, especially of the kids. I love children.
Thank you for visiting me today and leaving a comment.
Very cute the kids with the glass hearts !
All lovely photos. Good looking children and what the glass reflects is beautiful. Thanks for visiting.
good choices! the kids are adorable!
thanks for stopping by! i love the name of your blog!
(and that's a lot of exclamation points!)
Great take on the theme. I love the expression of the kids' faces! Have a great weekend
The kids are gorgeous.
I really like the soft light on the glass building. It reminds me of a spring sunrise--watery and pastel.
Adorable kids, Marcia! I'm sure they ARE the joy of your life! :D BTW those are windows on my PH post...
those kids' smiles can warm a heart.
great shots!
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