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Welcome To Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley
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 a fabulous vacation trip to Italy.
You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans-the coliseum, the Michaelangelo 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 stewardist comes and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?" What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed
to be in Italy! All my life, I have dreamed of Italy!"
But there's been a change of plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is they haven't taken you a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine and disease.
It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language
and you will meet a whole new group of people you would have never met. It's just a different place. It's slower
paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for awhile and you catch your breath, you look
around and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. Holland even has rembrants.
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 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 go to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very
special, the very lovely things about Holland.
Celebrating Holland by Cathy Anthony
I'm home! I have been to Holland for over a decade now. It has become
my home. I have had time to catch my breath, to settle and adjust, to accept something different than I'd planned.
I reflect back on those years of past when I had first landed in Holland. I remember clearly my shock, my fear, my anger,
the pain and uncertainty.
In those first few years, I tried to get back to Italy as planned but Holland was
where I was to stay. Today I can say how far I have come on this unexpected journey. I have learned so much more.
But, this too has been a journey of time.
I worked hard. I brought new guidebooks. I learned a new language and
I slowly found my way around this new land. I have met others whose plans had changed like mine and who could share
my experience. We supported one another and some have become very special friend.
Some of these fellow travelers had been in Holland longer than I and were seasoned
guides, assisting me along the way. Many have encouraged me. Many have taught me to open my eyes to the wonder
and gifts to behold in this new land. I have discovered a community of caring. Holland wasn't bad.
I think that Holland is used to wayward travelers like me and grew to become a land
of hospitality, reaching out to welcome, to assist and to support newcomers like me in this new land. Over the years,
I've wondered what life would have been like if I'd landed in Italy as planned. Would life had been easier? Would
it have been as rewarding? Would I have learned some of the important lessons I hold today?
Sure this journey has been more challenging and at times I would and still do stomp
my fee and cry out in frustration and protest. And yes, Holland is slower paced than Italy and less flashy than Italy,
but this too has been an unexpected gift. I have learned to slow down in ways too and look closer at things, with a
new apprehension for the remarkable beauty of Holland and it's tulips, windmills and rembrants.
I have come to love Holland and call it home. I have become a world traveler
and discovered that it doesn't matter where you land. What's more important is what you make of your journey and how
you see and enjoy the very special, the very lovely things that Holland or any land has to offer. Yes, over a decade
ago, I landed in a place I hadn't planned. Yet I am thankful, for this destination has been richer than I could hae
imagined!
A Special Child (Author Unknown)
A meeting was held quite far from earth.
It's time again for another birth,
Said the angels to the Lord above.
This special child will need much love.
His progress may seem very slow;
accomplishments he may not show.
And he'll require much extra care
from all the folks he meets down there.
He may not laugh or run or play
and his thoughts may seem far away.
In many ways, he won't adapt
and he'll be known as handicapped.
So let's be careful where he's sent.
We want his life to be content.
Please Lord, find the parents
who will do this special job for you.
They will not realize right away
the leading role they're asked to play,
but with this child from above
comes stronger faith and richer love.
And soon they'll know the privilege
given in caring for this gift from heaven.
Their precious child so meek and mild
is heaven's very special child.
Watch The Lamb
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