Holland is Beautiful!

Well, Lauren had her big evening yesterday! She went to The Monarch School's prom with her friend, Nathan. Don't they look adorable!

You know, prom is a big deal, for kids and for parents. I'm not putting down any parent's excitement about this big event in their child's life, but for kids like ours, last night was a dream come true.

There's a great analogy about when a special needs child is born into a family. The comparison is between having a baby and going on a trip to Paris. In preparation for a trip to Paris, you would buy books on Paris. You might take French lessons, make daily agendas about all of the sites you will see on your journey, buy a map of the city and dream of the landmarks you will see. You are excited about eating French cuisine, buying souveniers and strolling the city streets of Paris with all of your friends, who are also on the journey in Paris.

Imagine you embark on your trip, board that plane, travel across the ocean, but when you land you're in Holland. You don't know where you are or how you got there. This definitely was not on the itinerary! You don't speak the language, you don't know of any landmarks, how to get around the city and you don't know anyone else. You feel so alone, confused and isolated. Then comes the anger and depression because you're not in Paris, like you were told you would be. You hear about all of your friends that love being in Paris and are so envious because they're there and you're not. It just isn't fair!!

When we found out that Lauren had PDD, shortly after she turned 3, life instantly changed for our family. We no longer were in Paris, but instantly teleported to Holland. All of you who read this know what a struggle it is for our family to live in Holland. We've come to adjust to living in Holland, found wonderful people who show us around the city and help make our lives easier. We have supportive family and friends who visit us often and try to understand what it's like for our life in this uncertain place. The weather changes quickly around here and is sometimes so stormy that Rick and I worry if we can endure the wind and hail.

Well, yesterday, all of the tulips were blooming, the sun shone and the leaves on the trees danced gently in the warm breeze! It was a glorious day in Holland!