"It's just a different place" is the phrase and invitation that resonated with me in this reflection on discovering one has a child with a disability. Different, not worse. Holland, not Italy. There is a profound sense of acceptance that I sense in-between the lines that allows one to see, to experience what is good about Holland, when one is not in Italy, considering her image of planning for a trip.
This brought me back to something many people struggle to admit: gratitude for the life that arrived does not erase the grief for the life once imagined. Both can exist together. The image of Holland works because it doesn’t ask anyone to pretend the disappointment was small. It simply leaves room, after the pain, to notice the tulips. That feels honest—and deeply kind.
This past Ash Wednesday my adult son who has Asperger’s and Schizophrenia was unable to join me for worship, so I brought the ashes home and made the marks on his forehead. I was ready say the familiar words when he jumped right in and said instead, “You are stardust, to stardust you shall return.” We may not have Italy or even Holland sometimes, but we have the whole universe in our hugs.
"It's just a different place" is the phrase and invitation that resonated with me in this reflection on discovering one has a child with a disability. Different, not worse. Holland, not Italy. There is a profound sense of acceptance that I sense in-between the lines that allows one to see, to experience what is good about Holland, when one is not in Italy, considering her image of planning for a trip.
This brought me back to something many people struggle to admit: gratitude for the life that arrived does not erase the grief for the life once imagined. Both can exist together. The image of Holland works because it doesn’t ask anyone to pretend the disappointment was small. It simply leaves room, after the pain, to notice the tulips. That feels honest—and deeply kind.
This past Ash Wednesday my adult son who has Asperger’s and Schizophrenia was unable to join me for worship, so I brought the ashes home and made the marks on his forehead. I was ready say the familiar words when he jumped right in and said instead, “You are stardust, to stardust you shall return.” We may not have Italy or even Holland sometimes, but we have the whole universe in our hugs.
Beautiful!!