When Zoe was little I spent a lot of time thinking ( and writing) about about how different she was. Then she grew, and through her grade school years blossomed with the encouragement to try and do her best as I made sure she was always included, and treated just like everyone else. Zoe will be starting…
Author Archives: Suzanne
Summer of Independence
It’s seems like only yesterday I was sitting in a small room, with a desk between Zoe’s Doctor and I as I asked him question after question- all of them starting with “ Will she ever..? And in that moment, instead of feeling tragically overwhelmed- I was empowered. Finally, I was getting confirmation on something my…
The ” Good Enough” Mom
I am about 12 years into motherhood now.. and like lots of Mom’s I know, I still don’t feel like I’m getting it right. Mothering kids with medical issues takes a purposeful amount of focus and attention, the kind that sometimes prevents you from being that cool ” chill” kind of mom..yet still I try…
Message for ALL Mom’s.. LOVE your kids, as if they were dying..
My day had started like any other, I was up at 5 packing lunches and backpacks, while trying to gulp down some coffee. I had an appointment at the office later, so I spent a few minutes standing in front of my closet perplexed and sighing. I looked in the mirror, briefly noting the major…
The Anonymous Note, Part 2 And Those Kids Who Inspire Special Needs Moms
When my daughter Zoe was a toddler, she didn’t spend her days spreading out her toys and playing on our cool tile floor , or toddling around clutching her favorite doll with sticky juice hands like her big sister Olivia did. Instead, Zoe preferred to cuddle for comfort. Her speech didn’t develop until late so…
To the Author of The Anonymous Note Left On My Car Window-
I think I recognize you! I do.. I used to live in your world of Black & White, everything in order- in it’s place- I got a plan- got a schedule- a list of finished projects- checked -off checklist and all. How wonderful for you that your life is so structured, so dependable and predictable…
Ordinary Acts, Extraordinary Love
My girls have been in school a few weeks now, settling in- despite the challenges- two weeks of record Arizona heat, new classrooms, new schedules and the same old pressure to eat snack, eat lunch, drink water and do their best work. Two different schools, two different nurses offices’ stocked with medicine and strategically planned…
Truth and Beauty
When Zoe was little, each moment of truth was stunning. She will never walk by herself. She won’t run in the grass, walk in the sand, or recklessly dance her way across the room. These moments have continued as she grows older. Drive a car. Have a child. Grow old. I grieve these truths and then move…
The Value of Life.
…”The hard part is trying to answer the questions Walker raises in my mind every time I pick him up, What is the value of a life like his — a life lived in the twilight and often in pain? What is the cost of his life to those around him? … If Walker is…
The Words That Matter Most
I remember the exact moment I got the news, when my world stopped and for the moment -nothing else mattered. I remember the way the doctor led us across the recovery room and into the makeshift office of the medical tech I saw scurrying away. Some guy who, at the doctors urging, left so fast,…