Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
This has been the week for meeting up with "the girls". Some older than the others.
Wednesday I went to a friend's house for a get-together with some girls that I had known since my youth. I think you might remember me talking about Jeanie, Janna, Jodi, Sue, and Kris. What a bunch of great homies. Unfortunately, our Jodi was only back from California because her sister is suffering from 4 Stage cancer and she arranged to get here for a visit.
Jodi was able to relieve some stress by meeting us with us at Jeanie's house. Along with Hubby, Jeanie's hubby, Jodi's brother, Marcy M., who was one of our teachers in school, and is about our age anyway, and June, who was our lovely school secretary many, many, many years ago and also a good friend to all of us, we proceeded to laugh our fannies off and have a good time.
We also discussed some more very serious things that are going on in these lovely ladies lives. Kris' special man suffered a huge stroke in March and is paralyzed on his right side. Janna just got a new granddaughter, but her daughter came close to dying from something called H.E.L.L.P., a very rare condition that involves high enzymes. It can cause the liver to die, blindness, and a whole bevy of other really bad outcomes. The baby was taken two months early and fortunately both daughter and granddaughter came out of it fine. Very scary times.
Then there are younger girls in my life. You remember the granddaughters, Cate and Abby. They spent this week-end with us and it was good to see them again. We didn't do much since the weather was so dreary, but I am glad that they came.
Hey, just watched a documentary about autism on Public TV. It was filmed in 2005, and showed a family and their son, Jack. Back when he was diagnosed (in the late '90s) there was very little to be done with these kids. Parents were advised to not tell anyone that their child was autistic, because it would put a negative label on the kid. Also, this family was told that ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) wasn't important and to not put much faith in that program.
Well . . . I'm here to tell ya that I am so grateful that I have a daughter that thinks outside the box. When we were advised to stay hush-hush about Alec's autism, she stuck her chin out and declared she would shout it from the rooftops if it would help him get the special programs that he needed. She did the right thing.
I guess I am proud of all the girls , young or older, that I have in my life. Gotta love them!
GOD BLESS YOU ALL