What I love about OI

It’s easy to dwell on the sad and upsetting when it comes to a child’s disability, but I’ve found an odd satisfaction in Fin’s, and our family’s future with this new member of the family… not Fin, he was an expected and welcome addition. It’s that Brittle Bone Disorder… that’s the red headed step child I did not ask for. But my Mom has red hair, so i guess I should give OI a chance… Ok, so here it is.

I feel like I’ve been freed from something; some combination of Little League, Football Camp, Basketball superstar complex I think we force on our kids these days. Excel at sports or don’t fit in. That’s it. It’s expected that we need to focus on the physical abilities of our sons if we want them to be an All American boy. Sure, its sad that Fin won’t be able to bond with his fellow kiddos through traditional team sports, but I find myself oddly excited by the possibilities. What will he do? Where will life take him? Perhaps we WILL end up at the paralympics someday, but what about the new emphasis on his mind? Where will that lead him?

Maybe he will enjoy music or theater. Perhaps he will be a world class Erector Set engineer and use his talents to become an architect – a disability-conscious one, of course. Maybe spending a little more time close to the ground will give him an appreciation for the grass and the bugs and he’ll gain a love for science. I just don’t know, but that’s what excites me. It’s an unknown future that I can’t plan for or predict. I’ll have to get creative and that excites me too. What kind of fun things can we do together? The possibilities are vast and endless. This is NOT the life I expected, but oh, what a beautiful life it is:). Vic was unexpected too… not to mention Emerson, so I guess planning has never really been my thing anyway.

I guess the thing I love about OI is that it has totally shaken up my world. I have no clue what is ahead and it challenges my soul in so many ways. Finley knows no other life and will know nothing else, but I can tell you that he will have a bad ass life. He will do everything conceivably possible and we will be right there with him, cheering him on just as if we were in a stadium and he just threw the winning touchdown.

One more thing about OI. It has caused me to totally fall in love with Vic all over again. His dedication to Finley totally turns me on:). Ok, but really, his confidence and love and tender holding of our Mr. Glass is beyond anything I could have imagined. I can’t wait to marry him…

I’ll take the OI… it comes with this:

S