Welcome to My Holland
One of my favorite poems is "Welcome to Holland" by Emily Perl Kingsley. It compares having a child with planning a trip to Italy and when the child has special needs you're taken to Holland instead. The analogies in the poem bring out such emotion that many times I can't read it without tearing up.
I was in Italy with Justin for such a brief time. Being a first time mom, everything was so exciting and new, but I was snatched up from my life in Italy and thrown on an airplane when my baby boy had his first seizure at four months of age. He then had a seizure when he was thirteen months old which caused brain damage. I then realized we had landed in Holland without a round trip ticket. We would never make it back to Italy.
I mourned the fact I would never see the beautiful sites of Italy again and wished I had taken more time to stop and smell the roses. Shock and denial soon set in and I even convinced myself we would make it back to Italy. I worked fervently with Justin's doctors and therapists and searched just as hard for answers that would give me my son back, but in Holland we stayed.
I finally realized that only God could make him whole again and I was to love and accept him like he was. We had a wonderful group of family, friends, doctors, therapists and teachers who became our guides in Holland. They showed us the simple beauty of the land and we began to feel at home.
It is now eighteen years later and I am still in Holland with Justin. We have now become guides ourselves to the newcomers here. Some may go back to Italy and some will stay but no matter how it ends, they will never forget either place. I still think back to my brief time in Italy with Justin, but now I find my heart and home in Holland.
Thanks for visiting with me my friends,
Angela :)
I was in Italy with Justin for such a brief time. Being a first time mom, everything was so exciting and new, but I was snatched up from my life in Italy and thrown on an airplane when my baby boy had his first seizure at four months of age. He then had a seizure when he was thirteen months old which caused brain damage. I then realized we had landed in Holland without a round trip ticket. We would never make it back to Italy.
I mourned the fact I would never see the beautiful sites of Italy again and wished I had taken more time to stop and smell the roses. Shock and denial soon set in and I even convinced myself we would make it back to Italy. I worked fervently with Justin's doctors and therapists and searched just as hard for answers that would give me my son back, but in Holland we stayed.
I finally realized that only God could make him whole again and I was to love and accept him like he was. We had a wonderful group of family, friends, doctors, therapists and teachers who became our guides in Holland. They showed us the simple beauty of the land and we began to feel at home.
It is now eighteen years later and I am still in Holland with Justin. We have now become guides ourselves to the newcomers here. Some may go back to Italy and some will stay but no matter how it ends, they will never forget either place. I still think back to my brief time in Italy with Justin, but now I find my heart and home in Holland.
Thanks for visiting with me my friends,
Angela :)
Hugs Angela- I remember working so diligently, wanting to leave Holland also, my Bethany has ds- but what a beautiful peace to trust Him while living in Holland here while our sights of complete redemption are fixed in Heaven. He is the joy in our journey- praying for you and Justin- <3
ReplyDeleteCindy, thank you for sharing with me and for your prayers. We must remember that as long as we keep our sights on Heaven, then we are never alone on this journey. Stay in touch.
ReplyDeleteHi Angela I would love to help Justin and our technology will definately change Justin life and yours as well. If you go to www.frasil.com and register you will be one of the first people in the world to use the Frasil Browser. The website and the www.frasilfoundation.org sites are both self explanatory but if you need any futher help please send me an email or talk to me on @frankilloway. Take care and I hope we can help you to go back to Italy have a wonderful day warm regards Fran
ReplyDeleteHi Fran, I've checked out your website and what wonderful work you do. May God continue to bless you. Angela :)
ReplyDelete