It has been 6 months since Ethan Saylor died at the hands of three off-duty police officers and there has still been no justice. Here is a re-post of my blog entry about his death. We cannot – and will not – forget. *** On January 12, 2013, a 26 year old man named Robert […]
About Melissa
Mom, writer, advocate, knitter.Author Archive | Melissa
Summer
Blog hopping this week! Check out everyone’s favorite summer time memories and traditions on the Down Syndrome Blogs Blog Hop! So what do I love about summer, and what do I hope to share with Rowenna? It’s the sound of summer. It starts with being able to finally leave windows open and waking up to […]
Jax
Our wonderful cat Jax is missing. He’s been part of our family for over 7 years, very much a fixture in our daily lives. Jax has always been a special cat – always purring and licking us, content to just be with. A good traveler and always happy to see you. We often joked that […]
Three
Rowenna is three today. When she was born and we were swept up into a world we never dreamed we would be part of, all the appointments and therapy and what ifs, it seemed like three was so far away. Three, with its built in transition from early intervention to public school. It was hard […]
Gone
I’ve lost another baby. That’s the third I’ve lost, the third in a row, and my fourth pregnancy. Lost before we knew boy or girl or had much time to dream about who might be joining the family. There’s not much to say at this point, though this third loss magically opens a door to […]
The Line
Today was Rowenna’s last day of Montessori preschool. For the end of the year program, parents joined their children in a circle as they sang their favorite songs with their teacher. The children either sat on carpet squares or on their parents’ laps in the circle, singing and performing hand actions. Rowenna? She was walking […]
Mother’s Day
It’s Mother’s Day and I want so much to simply celebrate the girl who made me a momma. I want to be able to say I’ve been pregnant once and have one beautiful girl. I want to go back to the time when pregnancy meant a baby in 40 weeks, for my family to grow, […]
An End
We’re nearing the end of an era for Rowenna. In 3 short weeks, my sweet girl will be three and she will finish with the Birth to 3 program. It’s a hard stop – on her third birthday, everything just ends. No transition, no easing into the next step. Rowenna’s situation is a bit different […]
Hope Bigger Than Fear
I’m just home from a conference. I spent 2 days surrounded by families and individuals with disabilities at a conference about life in Disability World – the ins and outs of service systems, how to advocate for yourself and for systems change, and discussion of the Big Ideas that cause us to step back and […]
Open Letter to NDSS and NDSC
I read that you are seeking information from the community about the proposed law enforcement training program you plan to help implement. As mother to a child with Down syndrome, I would like to share my thoughts. It seems your support of a training program is a foregone conclusion. Since you feel you must support […]
