Welcome to Holland

[Guest guest]

I was just telling a couple of dear friends about the following

story when I realized that some of our newest members may not be

aware of this as well. It is a wonderful story that someone sent me

17 years ago when Max was first diagnosed with RSS. I think that

with the new year and with Sheldon's theme of welcoming

everyone " HOME, " it is appropriate to post this once again. I

always refer back to it when I am at my lowest.

Enjoy!

Jodi Z

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by

Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with

a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique

experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like

this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous

vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make

your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo . The

gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian.

It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You

pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands.

The stewardess comes in and says, " Welcome to Holland. "

" Holland?!? " you say. " What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for

Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of

going to Italy. "

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in

Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible,

disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease.

It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a

whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people

you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less

flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you

catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that

Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has

Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and

they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And

for the rest of your life, you will say " Yes, that's where I was

supposed to go. That's what I had planned. "

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because

the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get

to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very

lovely things ... about Holland