Birthday Boy

I can hardly believe this beautiful baby is seven years old today! Joy to the world! (Or at least to the Thomas family:)

 It certainly has been a journey into the unknown~ like to the Land of Polymicrogyria. No one goes there willingly. Lots of kicking and screaming into that place....

Don't forget to pack a few things...
Like your faith.
And don't forget Hope.
 Hope is something you never want to be without - not in is this strange land. Hope is like an outstretched hand in a dark room. You don't see it, can't always feel it, but just when you are about to fall into the abyss, it scoops you up, sets you on your feet again, positions you so you can see the tiny shaft of light spilling into the darkness. Then, you feel it. Hope.

When you get to this Land, you find a few things.
Friends.
New acquaintances.
Folks who are walking the same path as you.
Your new normal.
Support
Professionals who try to help you make sense of it all.
Your new understanding.

I'd like to leave this Land in which we are living. I'd like to plan the great escape. I pitched my tent here for a while, but now I'd like to break down camp and go to the Land of Normal and Healthy.

But, it's ok. I've packed my Hope. And after all, it's a birthday!

Before anyone else in the house woke up, Aidan and I had a little pre-birthday fun and he opened a present from his great-aunt and I pretended I was a skilled grandma tattoo artist.
I may have missed my calling...

Aidan is not well these days. No more walking down the hall to crawl in my bed for a morning story..because Aidan can't walk on his own. Can't stand on his own. Can't feed himself well because his shaking hand can't reach his mouth without the food spilling. But, he is happy. He is cheerful. He is full of love. He brings us joy.

There is more than one wish that passes in the breaths it takes to blow this number seven candle out.
(I've packed my Hope. I never leave home without it.)

" Hope has two beautiful daughters, there names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain as they are"~Augustin of Hippo