Graduation and awards ceremonies give the Right Hook. Yearbook signings throw a left jab. Prom pictures deliver an upper cut.
Sucker punches are those moments we think we are fine, but BAM out of nowhere something hits a tender place we did not know existed.
Read MoreThis is tough to discuss without coming across cold and insensitive. Special needs parenting is no joke. There is exhaustion, heartbreak, and ample opportunities for worry. We will cry. We will need to be picked up.
With the above reality comes a slippery slope of spending too much time in these areas. I thank God for people who did not allow me to linger and risk the chance of a downward spiral...
Read MoreLong term caregivers are incredibly fortunate. We have continuous opportunities to grow in capacity to love. We have a second, a third, a hundredth chance to get it right.
Loving perfectly is more complicated than what is depicted on a bumper sticker or groovy 60’s song. Rather, it is a slow process that does not come easy. The biblical definition of love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 has countless opportunities to hold a mirror up to our hearts and remind us where we are growing and where there is room for God to be invited in...
Read MoreMy special needs daughter was the cause of many disrupted car pool drop offs when she was in grade school. When she did not want to comply, she did what was coined as “the plop”. The plop consisted of all 90 pounds of a 10 year old girl completely limp on the ground.
We had occasions where she would plop in the middle of the crosswalk.
I kid you not. She would plop smack in the middle of the street.
Read MoreI can be a really crappy friend.
I blame it on 20 years of coaching high-level gymnasts. 25+ hours a week spent with “my girls” where I was paid to point out flaws and demand correction. The expectation being issues were to be taken care of regardless of fear, mood, health, environment, or whatever.
No excuses. !NO DRAMA!
Just fix it so you can move on and be better.
While this made me one heck of a successful coach (if performance is the litmus test), it also has made me a crappy friend to others and to myself...
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