Dancing in the Rain

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One of my all time favorite quotes, the one that helped me through countless days like the one I’m about to describe for you sits in a prominent place in our home.  I put it there for a reason.  At least 500 times a day I walk past it and have the constant reminder that I am not in control over much of what happens in this life.  However, I am able to choose how I respond. And that is only by the grace of God.  I most certainly am not able to do any of it in my own power!

Around here we have lots of stormy weather.  I think it all started when Josiah was just about 5 years old.  Seemingly out of the blue, our sweet little guy decided to crank up the noise.  He went from cuddly, loving and curious to becoming explosive almost overnight. Looking back though, those were just heavy rain showers.  As he’s gotten older we’ve endured gale force winds and frequent flash flooding much more often than I’d care to admit.

There were no warnings, no Space City Weather guys preparing us for the impending doom.  It was just us, fumbling our way through with a house full of kids, trying to figure it all out.  Most of the time it was not pretty. Read more…

Today’s Episode – WHAT Were We Thinking?

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I enthusiastically mentioned to Rick this morning that a visit to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts might be a great thing to do with Josiah today.  Since Josiah hasn’t been attending many activities with our local Down syndrome group or with any of the other amazing disability groups in our area I suggested we make a plan to do a new and exciting adventure each weekend.  Gradually exposing Josiah to different environments will open up his world a bit more and get him (and us) out of the house.

He recently spent a week on vacation in San Antonio with the Josiah Whisperer.  Just the two of them.  They explored every mission, restaurant and art show within a 20 mile radius, not to mention a trip to the Japanese Tea Garden and a hike (up hill at times) through the Natural Bridge Caverns.

The Whisperer blew up our phone with pictures of Josiah staring intently at art pieces and smiling at sculptures, meandering through art installations as if an art connoisseur.

So, surely a trip to our local Art Museum would be right up his ally.   I was actually quite proud of myself for even thinking of such a great idea.  Read more…

Oh, the Joys of Anesthesia

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Josiah has had quite a few adventures with anesthesia this year.  He had his 3rd surgical procedure of 2024 one week ago.  He doesn’t typically have surgical procedures.  It just so happens they were necessary this year.

Each time Josiah was blessed to have the world’s most amazing anesthesiologist by his side.  This man called our home prior to all 3 procedures to talk to us about Josiah’s needs.  He gathered quite a bit of information to formulate a plan so Josiah would be as calm and as comfortable as possible.  It made a huge difference.

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Nail Care Nightmares

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Can any of you relate?  Your loved one’s nails are incredibly long, desperately in need to of a major trim.  For the purposes of this scenario we will stick to toe nails, lovely glorious, Lord, WHY do they have to grow so fast, toe nails.  Have you ever seen such nails?  Can you picture in your mind what they look like? Let me just add, they are THICK.

Now imagine it’s your task to trim those nails to a neatly manicured length.  And imagine your loved one has no desire for you to get within even 6 football fields of his feet, let alone up close and personal to his toes.  Imagine attempting to trim not just one but all 10 of those toe nails! It’s paramount to risking life and limb.  Are you up for the challenge?

Quite frankly, I’m not. Read more…

It Takes a Village

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So much for the self-imposed isolation.  Two weeks in we enthusiastically raised the white flag, announcing we were done!  There are only so many days one can thrive with limited sleep at night, then provide constant care during the day.  Rick and I just aren’t that young and energetic any more.  We had to weigh the risk of bringing caregivers back into our home versus the risk of sheer exhaustion.  It was a difficult decision.

It became less and less difficult as time wore on.

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