Five years ago today...

Five years ago today, my baby boy was born.



He came into this world without a hitch and went home a perfect baby. A week later, my whole world was shattered when we learned he was aspirating badly. A couple of weeks later, my heart shattered once again when we found out he had a chromosome abnormality.


I didn't think I could ever put it back together again.

Events in our life are marked by moments. This morning, the morning of his birthday, my five year old marked the moment by crawling into bed and waking me with a kiss as he said "Hi mommy!" cheerfully.

We've come a long way, baby.

An old friend once said that having a child with special needs was like watching the Wizard of Oz in color. She said that, before her son was born, she saw the world in black and white, just like watching the old version of the movie in black and white. It's a good movie, and you don't know that you are missing anything. It seems just fine.

Then later, you get to see the remade version in color, and oh, the glory. It is spectacular!

That friend of mine....she's a smart lady. There were times when I didn't want to watch the world in color OR in black and white. I wanted to turn it off and crawl back into bed. However, kids have a funny way of keeping you from turning the world off. They force you to watch.

Will forced me to see the world in color, to meet people I would have never met, and to learn to appreciate things I never thought I'd appreciate before.

These days things are pretty good in our house. Will has long surpassed the doubts that people had about his ability, and in general, we enjoy good health and lots of fun here. I'm a lucky girl. I rejoice in the moments like this morning, when I am reminded of all that I've been given.


Happy birthday Will! Your dad and I love you so very much!!!