Learning From Lew
The Poem I Said I Would Never Write
Every mother of a child who is disabled has at least one poem in her about her child, about the smile, the radiance, the beauty, the joy, the gifts, the...
Learning From Lew
First day at The Home of The Innocents
It was the day we took Lew to the Home of the Innocents to stay. It was the worst day of my life – but not for the reasons I...
Learning From Lew
Enough
I have a son who has severe physical and mental disabilities and whose life is worth living. It is worth enriching and cherishing. Someone asked me: “When do you know...
Learning From Lew
Dreams
The dreams parents have For their children Who have disabilities Are different as those parents And those children. One said to me: “I want more for my child Than the...
Learning From Lew
The Best (and worst) Social Worker
“THAT’S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY! IT ISN’T YOUR CHILD HAVING UNCONTROLLABLE SEIZURES ON YOUR LIVINGROOM FLOOR!!” My usually quiet voice blasted Lew’s pediatric neurologist. A stunned silence followed on...
Learning From Lew
Moving to Hattiesburg
Lew is five years old and it is the first time that I shake my fists in anger at God. On a Thursday in the early spring of 1987 Jeannette...
Learning From Judson
Prayer chases fear away
“I’m going to pray those fears away.” – Mabel Mastin When I was pregnant with my second son, I knew I wanted Mabel to be praying about his development and...
Learning From Lew
A two-part story about gratitude
It is a beautiful early spring day in 1992. Lew is six months old and we have had his diagnosis for about a month. I am driving down a residential...
Learning From Lew
Not a zebra story
Lew was born in Lexington, Kentucky and we lived there for much of his childhood. From 1988 until Lew’s death in 1998, my husband, Bob, was on the faculty of...