Laura’s Blog
When I Felt Different, part two
It wasn't the first time I had fallen. I was as used to falling as I could be. We practiced falling in physical therapy with the cushiony mats and I tried to tuck in my head or my arms to minimize injury. But one never really gets better at the suddenness of a fall....
When I Felt Different, part one
If you asked me, "What's it like to be different?" or "When did you know you were different?"...I might respond in one of three ways: "I'm not different. I've never seen myself as different." (I shared more on this perspective last year.) "What do you mean? Aren't we...
When Friends Care in Tangible Ways
This isn't a story about what we did or where we went. This is a real-life story about friends -- when they cared, how they helped in tangible ways, and what that meant. I went to a baseball game earlier in the month. If you don't know me, you might assume my parents...
3 Unspoken Goals of Caregiving
Caregiving isn't just about me asking someone to help me with a specific task and then we do it. That is part of it and that is how caregiving begins. But caregiving done well goes further. At the end of June, I wrote about the controversial book, Me Before You. The...
Being a Mom Has Its Own Limitations, part two
Today I'm thankful to have Jordan Fortenboher on the blog once again. She continues her story of entering motherhood and the limits she is learning to feel and face. (If you missed Part One, please go read it.) ******* When Laura asked me to write a part two for my...
Being a Mom Has Its Own Limitations, part one
Today I am excited to share my space and introduce you to fellow blogger and writer, Jordan Fortenboher. We connected in recent years as we both were learning to chase dreams and move forward in obedience to what God had (and has) for our lives. Her words have...
Understanding Arthrogryposis and A New Normal, part four
When I was little, I didn't really know what mainstream inclusion meant. Those words weren't in my vocabulary and I don't remember hearing them from my parents. But I lived it. Public schools were just beginning to adopt mainstream inclusion for students with...
Understanding Arthrogryposis and A New Normal, part three
My first day of school came sooner than what's considered normal. I was only 2. My oldest brother headed to kindergarten and I headed to preschool. Different schools, but I love the fact that we started school the same year. One of the local schools offered a special...
Understanding Arthrogryposis and A New Normal, part two
Normal would always be a word I redefined with my life. There is nothing normal about looking like a pretzel when you're born. But I did. My parents immediately knew something was off the night I was born. I was breach. I was blue and coded. I looked like the human...
Understanding Arthrogryposis and A New Normal, part one
We went to physical therapy that day. And the therapist had been working on your balance and standing for a while. Probably months. We had been trying to get you to walk independently. All of a sudden you walked from the PT to me. It was about 4 steps. Unassisted. So...
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