Poem to share... get the tissues handy!
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Topic: Poem to share... get the tissues handy!
Posted By: Two Blondinis
Subject: Poem to share... get the tissues handy!
Date Posted: 01 June 2006 at 9:41am
This was read out at Antenatal class last night as we were talking about "unexpected outcomes" I ALMOST blubbed 
Welcome to Holland - By Emily Perl Kingsley 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 the pain of that 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. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
 
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Replies:
Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 01 June 2006 at 10:09am
Awwww  ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: Paws
Date Posted: 01 June 2006 at 10:28am
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That is so beautiful! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: daikini
Date Posted: 01 June 2006 at 12:26pm
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Wow. That is so true! As the sister of a special-needs child, that is just what it was like! ------------- Becca, mum of 2 girls & 3 boys |
Posted By: caraMel
Date Posted: 01 June 2006 at 2:43pm
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that is awesome. thankyou for sharing! ------------- Mel, Mummy to E: 6, B: 4 and: 
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Posted By: stevie_88
Date Posted: 01 June 2006 at 4:39pm
Oooh that is so nice!  Makes you step back and think for a while hey... It's just another day in paradise for some people.------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: Jennz
Date Posted: 01 June 2006 at 8:59pm
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That is just gorgeous! ------------- Jen, Charlotte 7 & Kate 3 
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Posted By: jack_&_charli
Date Posted: 01 June 2006 at 9:01pm
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awwwww!
it's so true isn't it ------------- http://www.alternatickers.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: james
Date Posted: 02 June 2006 at 2:20pm
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------------- <a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="http://b4.lilypie.com/nLJ5p13.png" alt="Lilypie 4th Birthday Ticker" border="0" /></a> |