August - two major events occurred that are worth blogging about. First, on August 14th, Emma's 18-month birthday, Emma "graduated" from the Virginia Beach Early Intervention program, the program that provided her with physical therapy services for the past 12 months. Although she had no idea what was going on, it was a really special day for Chris and I. The EI program holds a "graduation" ceremony each August for the kids who are being discharged and their families. This year's ceremony was held at 3:30PM at a church out near the oceanfront. The ladies who led the music at the EI-sponsored music classes led the kiddos in some silly songs and a few speakers spoke, doing a good job of keeping their comments brief since many members of the audience were under the age of 3. Afterwards, the mayor of Virginia Beach took a picture with each family and gave all the "graduates" a signed copy of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" When it was our turn to meet her, she chatted with Emma then turned to us and said, "You guys are doing a great job with her." It was really special. We said goodbye to Debbie, Emma's case worker, and a few other families we'd met along the way. Chris decided to take all of us out for Italian food to celebrate, and we finished the evening with some family time on the beach. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day and we were so happy for and proud of our little peanut.
Emma strolling along the beach with daddy
Mommy and Emma
My favorite picture of our family this year!
The second August event worth mentioning is that CHKD (Norfolk's Children's Hospital) invited our family to be a "featured" family in this December's radiothon. As a result, I was asked to come to a local radio station's studio on August 19th to make a recording of Emma's story that was a bit more in-depth than the 30 seconds were given during June's tel-a-thon. When I got up that morning, I knew it would be a big day. For me, shairng Emma's story is cathartic - I feel as though talking it through provides healing to my heart, little by little. Emma and I arrived at the radio station on time and met Joy, a member of CHKD's PR department, in the lobby. Eventually, the DJ came and introduced himself to me, telling me a bit more about the protocol for making the recording. He concluded by saying, "...and if you start to cry at any time, just go with it. It's not a problem. It brings some realness and emotion into the story for the listeners." My main focus was on trying to share the story in its entirety without being too wordy, yet without leaving out any relevant details. AND...if an opporutnity arose, I was hoping to say a few words about our faith and how we feel God has worked in Emma's life. People will let you say anything when you're sharing about a sick child, so I didn't want to miss an opportunity the Lord might be providing! It would not have gone better. As I was sharing, I felt distinctly as though my words were being blessed. The DJ was in awe of certain things that I shared and kept asking for more clarification. I managed to avoid crying until the very end, when I was reading a quote I found on a blog written by another mom whose daughter also had feeding issues. Nothing I've read more accurately describes what it's like to finally see your child begin to eat, and I cried when I read it. When I finished, the DJ was wiping his own tears away. Afterwards, Joy promised me that we would be given a copy of the final recording, and that it would be available to listen to online during the radiothon December 10th - 13th. When I find out more details, I will let all of you know how you can hear it for yourselves, if interested. Stay tuned!
And that's it for August!
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