While in the hospital with Liam,
when he was 3 months old,
trying to get his seizures under control,
a very special nurse,
named Shannon
had a powerful conversation
with me and told me
"Welcome to Holland."
I had no idea what she meant,
and I finally discovered
the meaning of her very poignant phrase.
She explained that she too,
experienced the same hardship
with her son with Down's Syndrome.
She told me,
"God only handpicks the very special
to be parents of children
that fight like warriors."
She showed me a picture of her son
and his brother and sister and said,
"See he's an angel,
you just can't see his wings
and halo
because they're invisible,
just like Liam,
he's an angel with invisible wings."
She explained that
"God has guided me
down such a beautiful path;
noone can see my footprints next to His,
because He has carried me the entire way."
We had a phenomenal conversation
which led to a lot of joyful tears.
At no point did she say
"I'm sorry about Liam,"
she only said,
"Liam is so extremely beautiful,
he's perfect, he is such a strong little boy,
and God blessed you with him."
She gave me a beautiful prayer bracelet
that I wear daily.
She is an amazing person,
and I was blessed to meet her that day.
when he was 3 months old,
trying to get his seizures under control,
a very special nurse,
named Shannon
had a powerful conversation
with me and told me
"Welcome to Holland."
I had no idea what she meant,
and I finally discovered
the meaning of her very poignant phrase.
She explained that she too,
experienced the same hardship
with her son with Down's Syndrome.
She told me,
"God only handpicks the very special
to be parents of children
that fight like warriors."
She showed me a picture of her son
and his brother and sister and said,
"See he's an angel,
you just can't see his wings
and halo
because they're invisible,
just like Liam,
he's an angel with invisible wings."
She explained that
"God has guided me
down such a beautiful path;
noone can see my footprints next to His,
because He has carried me the entire way."
We had a phenomenal conversation
which led to a lot of joyful tears.
At no point did she say
"I'm sorry about Liam,"
she only said,
"Liam is so extremely beautiful,
he's perfect, he is such a strong little boy,
and God blessed you with him."
She gave me a beautiful prayer bracelet
that I wear daily.
She is an amazing person,
and I was blessed to meet her that day.
"Welcome to Holland"
By Emily Perl Kingsley, 1987. All rights reserved.
By Emily Perl Kingsley, 1987. 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 some of that pain
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.
Needless to say,
Italy was never high on my list of places to visit.
I lived in Germany as a child
and traveled to Switzerland, France, and Austria.
As an adult,
my top list of places I wanted to see
were always Ireland, Scotland, Spain, and
Holland.
Courage*Joy*Strength
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 some of that pain
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.
Needless to say,
Italy was never high on my list of places to visit.
I lived in Germany as a child
and traveled to Switzerland, France, and Austria.
As an adult,
my top list of places I wanted to see
were always Ireland, Scotland, Spain, and
Holland.
Courage*Joy*Strength
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