Skip to main content

They don't make the six o'clock news

This year has been one amazing year at First Baptist. We are so thankful for everyone there, especially Mrs. Melissa. And the entire preschool experience could not be possible without Ms. Mary and Ivey's League. We love them all very dearly and appreciate the time they spend with Ivey at preschool. I just wish I could bottle up the greatness of it all because they don't get to see what their interactions do for Ivey, how they have helped to mold her into a different child. I get to see their impact - it is astonishing sometimes. And unless you are the parent of a child like Ivey, I don't think the magnitude of Ms. Melissa, Ms. Mary and especially Ivey's League can be understood. Ivey has a chance at life that she would have never had without them.

Without deny, Ivey's League has made all the difference. The Ivey's League members who go to preschool with Ivey are not teachers or therapist. They are all people with good hearts who love Ivey. They are all willing to learn and eager for information. If you were to pass one of them on the street, you would not know that they are learning sign language, will eventually learn some braille, can handle a feeding pump, know more than they would like to about seizures, or that they might even be able to handle a trach. They can tell you about deafblindness - and really 'get it'- more than most people who have worked in special education all of their lives. And against their fear of the unknown about Ivey, they jump in head first to walk with Ivey through life. They are in it for the long haul. They are helping our family raise our daughter. To us, they are unsung heros.

They are the heros that, for some reason, never make the six o' clock news. But they are news around here every day of the year + God answered so many of our prayers when he opened the door for Ivey's League to come into Ivey's Life.

Merry Christmas First Baptist! And Merry Christmas to our Ivey's League! We love you all! Ivey loves you all!

Comments

Sheila & Grace said…
Merry Christmas to everyone in Ivey's League, and thank you for all you do to help Ivey and her family!

Popular posts from this blog

And Sometimes Feeding Your Kiddo Looks Like This...

A simple sentence. No one said it to me in the beginning, but boy did that tube cause a lot of chaos. The NG tube graduated to the G-tube which morphed to a GJ- tube…. A brief history of Ivey's feeding tubes: *The NG tube was in place the first time I ever saw my daughter in the NICU.  My only memory of her without a feeding tube is them placing her in my arms immediately following her birth. *The G-tube, well, that is a story within itself.  That decision did not come lightly.  Another hole in her.  Another decision on our plate, but not really on our plate, it was apparent it was a medical necessity for her survival.  Literally to give her a chance to live.  A permanent decision.  A 5am panic attack in the Scottish Rite elevator that happened to coincide with Dr. Meyers arriving at the hospital at the same time as me.... Our intersection in the elevator set the stage for the years to follow. From that point on, he knew I was a little nuts and a lot...

BEAUTIFUL GREEN EYES........

Sibling Secret Sauce

Siblings of kiddos with disabilities are amazing humans walking amongst us. They live a life, most often, in the shadows of their sibling who simply needs "more". More time. More direct attention. More of more. We have now come to a fork in our road. Our boys are young men, and, our daughter is a young lady. I'll be honest, I was uncertain what life would look like once the boys left this home, once they had their own time, in their own personal sunshine. We found out quickly once Knox left for college his freshman year what that would look like. And then, when Walker left, we knew what life would feel like in their absence. There was too much space. Ivey felt it. We get many compliments about the relationship the boys and Ivey have with one another. Hints here and there that, maybe, Matt and I had some secret recipe to parenting a household with a child that is very medically complex and a very complex communicator. This is what I can tell you - there is no re...