A Perfect Gift

As I've said earlier Sam and I could not have gotten through those first few months of Logan's life without all 4 of our wonderful parents. Even now, we depend on them constantly. They are the ones who have given us the strength and courage to continue to pursue our dream of changing the stigma associated with disablilities.
Nancy and Fred, Sam's parents, have been so wonderful because they have loved Logan totally and unconditionally since the moment they met him. I LOVE seeing Logan through their eyes because their love is so pure. And, I have to admit, Logan just loves and adores them. Recently, after speding the morning with them, he woke up from his nap and said, "Mama, I love Mimi....and Fred" Logan does not usually call his granddad Fred, but decided it was silly at the time. Actually, "granddad" was surprisingly one of Logan's first words!!! Amazing, huh?
Anyway, the love between Logan and his grandparents is just beautiful!!
Thanks Nancy and Fred. We all love you so much.

From Mimi and Granddaddy:

A gift. Perhaps a perfect gift. We have been blessed with five perfect little gifts - our grandchildren, Lauren, Will, Martha, Logan and Maddie. What joy each of them has brought us and we love them so dearly. And, of course, each of them is unique and very special. But little could we imagine the perfect gift that Logan would be and how much he has already given us - and he’s only three and a half years old!

When Logan was born, our first thought was for Logan’s health, and our second thought was for Sam and Katie. And we worried. We worried about the three of them and the difficulties they might face (of course, our grandchildren always say “Mimi is such a worrywart!). And then we received what we think of as Logan’s first gift to us. As parents, we all endlessly worry about our children, but the birth of Logan has allowed us to see how wonderful our son, Sam, and daughter-in-law, Katie, are. Of course, we already knew that, but Logan’s gift has been to fill our hearts with such pride in seeing what wonderful parents they have become. Still, we worried as each new crisis developed - the operation on his Achilles tendons, the hard casts on both legs (much to Sam’s disappointment the casts were blue and not Raven’s purple), the shoes with the bar. But these difficulties served to strengthen his legs so he quickly began to crawl and then walk. What a gift to see his resilience and perseverance.

As parents and grandparents we all marvel and take joy in our children’s and grandchildren’s new accomplishments, but each of Logan’s new milestones from nursing, eating, crawling, walking, talking, playing with his little sister, Maddie, and his cousins and friends, to now going to school (Wow!), has a certain poignancy. Again, another gift. One that helps us to slow down and really see and appreciate, not take for granted, the little steps that could seem ordinary and simple, but are truly momentous.

We remember reading the story “Welcome To Holland” just after we learned that Logan was born with Down Syndrome (if you haven’t read it, you must). Although we were never concerned that Logan had Down Syndrome, for to us he was just our precious, adorable grandson, this short story has a way of putting life into perspective, not only for those with disabilities, but for all of us. For none of us know what paths our children’s lives will take nor what their ultimate abilities will be, but with proper guidance and love it can be a truly remarkable and beautiful journey, although maybe different from our expectations. We think Logan has shown all of us that this is so true.

As we have read the blogs that everyone has written and our eyes have welled up and our hearts have burst with joy, we realize what a wonderful gift everyone has received. Even though our families were already blessed with such loving relatives and dear, dear friends, Logan’s birth has given us a heightened awareness and reminded us of the true value of life. If only we all could possess such a pure heart that gives love so freely and accepts love so completely.

And so, as we enjoy our moments with our adorable, precious, lovable, delightful and full of fun little grandson, Logan (okay, we know we’re gushing, but we are grandparents!), we are struck by the positive impact his life has had on everyone already. Our lives have been affected by his sweet touch, light as a butterfly’s on each of us, but glorious as the richness of its color. A touch that will perhaps let us bloom more fully in understanding and love. Now that’s a perfect gift.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

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 out 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....and 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 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.