Noah had a good weekend. I had wanted to take him to a funeral Saturday but it fell at his nap hour so I went alone, leaving him home with daddy. Although I'm sure he would have loved to be in the house of God. Funerals are never an easy thing, but there are lessons both in life and in death. This was the first funeral that I've attended since Noah's birth. I wondered if I would look at death differently, the process of grieving differently. But I don't. It's the same. It's the same pain and sense of loss no matter what life experiences you go through. And it's the living that continue to ache for that one person that was loved so dearly.
At the luncheon after services I had the pleasure of meeting a nice lady by the name of Carla, who does nursery school at the church. She made a kind invitation for Noah to attend. I of course would be with him the entire time, but Chris and I agreed that it would be nice to take Noah so he could share in another new experience.
Yesterday we had family portraits done provided by Foothills Church. The shoot was outdoors and it was a bit windy, and Noah isn't a fan of the wind, so I'm not sure if the photographer had any luck in taking great pictures as Noah was pouting and squinting. The only thing that seemed to distract him from the wind was seeing a bird or an airplane. But the photographer was very nice. We have truly been so blessed with meeting the most kind and loving people. Each one is placed purposefully in our lives to help us along our journey in someway. One might have a special message I need, one may offer a hug, one may offer an idea, while another may offer simple comfort.
Last night was the first time in my life I think I ever wanted to be a celebrity. I was watching Celebrity Apprentice, not quality television programming, but nonetheless something to occupy my time while Noah finished his evening bottle before bed. It is truly amazing to me that there are people in this world that have the ability to donate $50,000 or more to fundraisers - like it's pocket change to them. But it's not about what you know, it's about who you know. These celebrities have so much disposable income it's no big deal. In my world $50,000 would take Noah a hundred thousand miles in therapy costs and equipment. And in the special needs world you'll either find those willing to share ideas on where to find help and fundraising, or those that keep the knowledge locked up like a tightly guarded secret. I think some families don't really want to advertise where they find help for fear that their own help will run dry. I can understand their fears to a point, it is hard to find help and when you do you want to hold on tight, yet I think regardless it's still important to share experiences because there will be another mom right behind me that is starting her journey as I write this. Her child is being born right now with challenges and she might find me and need help. Granted I'm by no means even close to being an expert, but I'm sure trying to do my homework to find avenues to pursue to help Noah. And if I can point another family in the right direction then I'm happy to do so.
Noah's Littlest Heroes Photographer, Tonee Lawrence, has posted a beautiful video to accompany a blog that I wrote on her photography site. It makes me cry such tears of joy every time I watch it. We've come so far. We have so far to go, but he's just the most magical little person, he lights up every part of my life. And I am so thankful and blessed to be his mom. There are not enough words to tell you Noah how much I love you. This is the website to watch his photo video:
http://www.toneelawrence.com/blog/
Love,
Stacy, Chris & Noah
