eSpecially Ben

13 years ago.

This has nothing to do with kids or special needs, but thought you might need a good laugh today. Enjoy! The other night, my wonderful husband was not too wonderful. He was grouchy and snapped at me. In retaliation, I huffed my way into our bedroom, slammed the door and went to bed. The next morning at 6:15am, Ryan came into our bedroom. He leaned over me and kissed my cheek and began a very sincere and thoughtful apology. Groggy as I was, I heard voices, other than his in the room and told him. Ryan brushed my garbled words aside, saying that it was just the radio that was on in the kitchen. Waking up further, I told Ryan the talking was coming from his pocket. Although still not believing me, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Sure enough, Ryan had "pocket-called" the owner of the company for which he works. Ryan quickly got on the phone and asked if he had heard anything that was said. Luckily, it seems that the owner did not hear a word, or so h

Monday was our twelve year wedding anniversary. Throughout the weekend, we looked at each other and laughed at how we have been together for so long - add 4 years of dating and 3 years of friendship prior to that. Ryan and I are VERY different people. We bring "the opposites attract" to a whole new level. Over the years, we have moved toward the middle, but it has been a long, slow and sometimes painful process. We may be polar opposites in the way in which we go about doing things, but we have the same values about almost everything. Our views on how to spend money, raise children and other major issues are similar. As parents, we have complemented each other with raising Ben, supporting one another when needed. Ryan is the crisis handler and I am the administrator. Ryan accompanies Ben to most medical procedures and I advocate for services for Ben. For us, the way to manage Ben's special needs has not been a cause of marital stress. Luckily, we have been able to sup

Last November, Ryan and I were given a free night in Myrtle Beach, compliments of HOPE ( Helping Outcomes for Parents of Exceptional children) , a new non-profit organization. I wrote about our experience here and included some links to articles about the effects on parents' relationship when raising a child with special needs. We all know marriage is continuous hard work without any extra set of issues. Add any type of problem and the stress is multiplied. Zondra Moss, the CEO of HOPE, submitted an application to The Pepsi Refresh Grant last month. Fortunately, HOPE was accepted as one of the 1000 applications for the 30 day voting process. The top ten ideas will receive a $50,000 grant. To find out more about this organization, please check out their site: HOPE Website Please check it out and if you are so inclined, please vote: Pepsi Refresh Grant ** Just in case you do not think your vote will make a difference, last month AMBUCS won a $50,000 grant to give 100 ch