One Year Later - Last but Not Least

Thanks for hanging in there with my long, drawn out explanations of the boys over the past year. I want to always be able to look back and remember how much things have changed.

A year ago I took off from Salt Lake with a couple suitcases, a couple carry-ons, two boys and a cat. Yes, we brought the cat on the airplane with us. This added quite the excitement to our trip. The first leg - from Salt Lake to Las Vegas (I know wrong direction but that's flights for you) - he did perfect. No noise, no one knew he was there.

The next leg - from Vegas to Atlanta - kitty started meowing about half way through. I figured he was bored, scared and wanting attention. Until I smelled it. Oh CRAP - literally. If you've ever flown with an animal you know you're not allowed to open their cage for any reason on the flight or in the airport except while going through security. Imagine trying to keep two kids occupied, dealing with a beeping feeding pump, an irritated man in front of Beans as he hated the kid playing the touch screen games on the back of the headrests...and then realizing kitty's contribution and willing the plane to land as soon as possible.

We exited the plane in Atlanta as quickly as possible with two kids, stroller and way too many bags and made a bee line for the bathroom. I'll spare you details but let's just say I did the best clean up job I could using toilet seat liners in the stall. And we still had the last leg left.

Back on the plane to Tallahassee, the cat won't stop crying, he smells and there's nothing I can do about it, the kids are antsy and I'm on my last nerve after a full day of traveling. The best news of the day was we made it all in one piece - minus a certain cat carrier liner that I tossed in Atlanta - and looking back it's quite the interesting/nerve-wracking/hilarious adventure.

Over the past year I've faced more joy than I could imagine - no more MRSA for Beans, bolus feeds, seeing him socialize so much more, Little Man having the opportunity to play his guitar, play in the dirt and be a little boy - and more heartbreak than I could have foreseen - diagnoses of learning disabilities, neurological conditions, school meetings with evaluation results and seeing the delays on paper, and both boys being retained - and the mixed bag of genetic confirmation of the problems. And yet, I have so much hope for where we're headed. Without knowing what we're dealing with, how could we know how to best help them?


We're looking forward to new classroom placements, new therapies and most of all I've learned acceptance. We are so lucky to have what we have. So blessed with all the things the boys can do. They work so hard and it doesn't matter if it takes them longer, or really how far they get. I've learned to accept things for what they are and be happy with all the good things because no matter what the situation, there are always good things. I am definitely the luckiest mom in the world.