The Six Letter Word

Thanksgiving weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the entire year.  I love to eat... and since that is a holiday where you are supposed to eat... its a good one.  I also love to shop... all night long... and get amazing deals.  I love the rush and the thrill of trying to make it before the doorbusters are gone.  I love eating at the mall food court in the wee hours of the morning.  I like decorating the house and watching rivalry weekend on ESPN.  But this year, something happened on Black Friday that was disturbing to me.

A six letter word.

I went to Sears for their 8pm opening after carefully reviewing the ad and making my list (and checking it twice).  I knew what I wanted and where I needed to go.  The doors opened and it began... one of the most wonderful times of the year.  The shoppers surged in and I broke out in a jog to get to where I wanted to go.

After I got the items I wanted, I was standing in line when I heard it.

The six letter word.

There were two young boys.  They were probably seniors in high school, or possibly college students.  But they were old enough to know better.  One bumped into the other, and they knocked a display, causing things to fall to the floor in the crowded department store.  

Then one looked at the other and said, "Dude, stop being a retard."

In the past, that was me saying that.  I never thought a thing about it really.

And then I had to sit in a doctors office, look at my gorgeous daughter, and hear mental retardation discussed.  I had to listen to probabilities and statistics... best guesses and predictions.  I heard about therapy, IEPs, special education, brain scans, and IQ testing.

I heard something to the effect of...

"At the age of 5, we will do another MRI and IQ testing... and then we will be able to determine the extent of mental retardation, if it exists.  Until then, we work our tails off to reroute those pathways in the brain that have been damaged."

The six letter word.

It is a diagnosis, and yet somehow we have changed it into a degrading insult.

We use it to describe actions that seem unintelligent or inappropriate. 

Ironically enough, that particular use of the word "retard" falls into both of those categories.

Using the "R" word around the special-needs community is like using the "N" word around people of color.

Not your finest moment.  And not at all accurate.

Because people who are diagnosed with mental retardation aren't stupid.

They are different.  They are compassionate, caring, funny, and kind.  They have talents.

They may need extra help, and they may not write the next bestseller or invent the next device.

But they really don't deserve for us to turn their medical diagnosis into a slang term for a lack of intelligence.

Because really... when we do that... it just reflects our own inadequacies.

Please do your best to end the usage of the six letter word.

For the sake of those out there who have been diagnosed, but don't deserve to be disgraced.

These are a few of my favorite things.

 Today I'm thankful for affectionate little girls.

I'm thankful for giggles that come easily.

I'm thankful for spontaneity.

I'm thankful for excitement.

And hilarious phrases.

I'm thankful for drama and dimples.

I'm thankful for a quick mind that learns easily.

I'm thankful for a sweet, cooperative spirit.

I'm thankful that every time Big D works nights, 

I get asked if someone can sleep in my bed.

Because she likes to snuggle.

I'm thankful for big blue eyes that light up.

I'm thankful for expressions and sincerity in storytelling.

 

 I'm thankful for childlike faith.

I'm thankful for everlasting hope.

I'm thankful for jubilant joy.

And I'm thankful for fierce, protecting love.

 

I'm mostly thankful for Savannah.

Thankful for Progress

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'll be blogging some things I am thankful for.

Today I am thankful for progress.

I'm thankful for one day at a time.

I'm thankful for baby steps.

I'm thankful for first words and silly smiles.

I'm thankful that one year ago this girl had a feeding tube taped to her face and there was talk of a g-tube surgery being scheduled.

And one year later... no tube... graduated from feeding therapy...and look. at. the. belly.

I'm thankful that the sense of humor shines through without words.

I'm thankful for the laughs I get to share with this girl every day.

I'm thankful that at least some of the time we are brace-free.

Even if we do insist on wearing pink shoes every. single. day.

 I'm thankful for the terrible twos.

Because they are very developmentally normal.

And normal is so nice.

And the pout is even kinda cute sometimes.

I'm thankful for fearlessness.

I'm thankful that despite all she has been through, she knows she is safe.

I'm thankful for her brave, tough, strong spirit.

Mostly I'm just thankful for that silly girl.

And her progress.

Halloween Bloopers

 How is it that photographing one child isn't too bad, but photographing two children is terribly challenging?  

In the interest of keeping it real, I wanted to share all of my pre-trick-or-treating snapshots.

You should also imagine me threatening that nobody gets any candy if they don't smile and cooperate... if you really want to keep it... really... real.

Happy Halloween!

 

 

Ridiculously Rad Runners

 As my sweet Southern friend Jessica would say, 

"I had a wild hair."

I've read before about the Color Me Rad 5K and I've always wanted to run it.

And then it came to a nearby town.

And somehow I was lucky enough to have two of my best buddies agree to do it with me.

And so was born the dream team... the Ridiculously Rad Runners.

 

 

And let me just tell you... 

It was the most fun 5K ever.

And if it comes to your town, you should run it.

And did I mention the profit went to the Special Olympics?!

 

 The race is 3.2 miles, and along the way you get color bombed.  

Colored liquid is sprayed on you and then you are coated in colored powder.

You start out in a white t-shirt, and finish looking like Crayola exploded on you.

And its pretty awesome.

 

 

This is what you run through...

 

 

 And this is what you look like when its over.

Ridiculously Rad.

 

 

I look crazy in this picture.

Because I found out it was my best time ever.

And because I was a little high on fun.

This girl obviously didn't realize we were having our picture taken.

Which is sad because it might've been my favorite picture.

If it wasn't photobombed from the front.

 

I had a ridiculously rad time.

And to end with another quote from my friend Jessica,

"Now on to training for our next event: Black Friday!"

Changing.

I used to dream that I would change the world.  

I wanted to be a lawyer.

The plan was to go to undergrad, then move to back to Alabama and get my law degree.

And then along came Savannah.

At first I was a little lost.

I remember thinking... this is it.  All I do is change diapers and do laundry and rock a baby.

Its funny now.

The highlights of my days aren't winning a case.

Somewhere along the way my dreams changed.

Now I get excited about soccer banquets, warm sunny afternoons in the yard, and baking cookies.

At the end of the day, you don't really remember the cases you've won.

You remember the times you laughed so hard your sides hurt.

You remember painting pumpkins and watching your children play together through an open window.

You remember wanting to put them up for adoption some days.

You remember being exhausted.

But you remember being happy.

Five years later,

instead of changing the world, I'm changing diapers.

Because I've changed.

Funny thing about it?

I wouldn't change a thing.