A special Mother’s Day

May 9, 2010

As if it’s not obvious enough, grammar has never been my forte. Growing up, I was not an avid reader, as my mind would move faster than my brain and something wouldn’t compute. I’d have to reread at least a sentence, possibly a paragraph or a page, I’d get frustrated for wasting time going over something I should have looked more carefully at the first time. Talking is even worse. Being someone who’s stuttered all my life, it’s bizarre how I would get into the communications field, or spend so much time writing and typing for a website that was my idea.

Now, time for a quiz. Be honest. When you saw the name of this posting, what was your first thought? Something about being the matriarch of a special-needs family? If I’m not mistaken, that would have required a hyphen between special and mother’s. How about, 24-hours of bliss for a female parent. I admit, this has potential as the statement is vague, but until I get a full-time job, I could never give my wife the special (to that degree) day that she deserves.

One last way to interpret the title is a Mother’s Day for a special person. Special not being associated with anything else other than the person she is or the role she plays in both Nathan’s and my life. Too many times families of challenged individuals are labeled as special without looking at the real traits that can make a person worthy of the title.

We’re surrounded by many special mothers in our life: Nathan’s teachers (past and present,) his PT, Grandmas, Aunts, helper at gymnastics, doctors and many other friends we’re privileged to have in our lives. Then there’s the special ladies to us, who just aren’t moms yet: Helpers at school, PT students, his OT, ST, equine therapy staff, any many others that would make this posting longer than it already is.

But this posting is dedicated to Annette. (She still was too shy to write a posting of her own for the site, so instead she has to read about me writing all about her. I don’t know which is worse, but if she does write next week’s posting, you’ll know her answer.)

Annette really is Nathan’s greatest advocate and the one who fights hardest to get Nathan anything and everything that he needs. She’s the one that deals with the insurance companies, sets up all of the appointments, seeks out new equipment and therapies and still worries if we’re doing enough for him. As if that isn’t enough, she’s the parent representative for the board of the equine therapy stables where she has led four fundraising efforts in the last six months, and is still seeking out more in the months to come.

Monday night, she’ll miss Nathan's swim lesson as she has a CP meeting to attend to try to get some more information she’s been trying to find for the last several months.

Even when she takes time for a vacation, she’s taking 16 days to travel to Uganda to help out with an orphanage of the other side of the world. Taking that much time away from Nathan is very hard for her to think about, but she came to the realization that even for all of Nathan’s needs, he has two parents who look after him full-time, and these kids lack any parental support, so for two weeks, she’s bringing that feeling to them.

While I’ve been without full-time work, she’s taken on more hours at her job, having to wear a pager 1-2 weeks a month where she can be called in at any hour (and she has been called at all hours of the day and night) but for someone, her work may be the opportunity to live again. She works in the tissue-typing/transplant lab and OSU Medical Center where they match those in need of kidneys, livers, or other organs that they may have more time with the ones they love as well.

Nathan definitely has a very special mom and I have a special wife. We’re very fortunate for all of the work she does for us, and the love she shows everyday. I’m one who would rather joke than hug, or rather type than talk, but I only hope she knows how we feel about her and know she’s another blessing God has sent to us.

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