Would you do it?

Today, Luca and I went to the Barnes and Nobles story time. There were a bunch of littles there with their parents or caregivers, most were much younger than Luca. I noticed a little guy that was born with no legs and shortened arms, no elbows. I glanced their way and smiled several times.

Instead of focusing on story time, my brain was racing a million miles a minute. It's always do you approach and say something or not... if you DO approach WHAT do you say? "so cool, my daughter was born with a missing hand?" Um no... "Hi I'm Sarah and I'm super passionate about limb differences" Um hello creep! "You were born like my daughter Bella" Nope not true, they are different... ugh. I struggled. Do I say something and what do I say? Will I seem like a creep? Or will the person with this little guy find it helpful? I spent almost 45 minutes debating what to do.

Then I reminded myself, I was once in the shoes of this little guys parents. Though different, very similar. There was a time when I had NO resources, when I knew NO other families of children with limb differences, when I didn't know how to teach my daughter to crawl, tie her shoes or even where she would wear her wedding ring... There was once a time I felt alone in my feelings, that I felt that I had something to do with her difference. I'm sure this kiddos parents wondered many things too. If they are like me, there are still things they wonder.

I grabbed my business card and wrote down a few things on the back: Camp No Limits, Lucky Fin Project, Joshua K_____. On the front, I added my cell phone. I held it close and still thought, how?

Then I said, whatever, I'm going for it. So I approached the person with the little guy and said something like "Hi I'm Sarah, my daughter was born without her left hand and I wanted to give you some resources that might help." She smiled and thanked me saying "I'm not his mom so I'll pass it along." She explained that she was a friend helping. She also said "Most people don't even smile at us". I bent down and said "Hi I'm Sarah, my daughter was born without her hand and I was giving your friend some stuff to share with your parents that you might like. How old are you?" I reached out my hand to shake his hand and he reached out one of his arms and I shook his nub. The little boy said he was 4. I said "My son, I'm here with is 4 too! Do you start kindergarten in the fall?" He was quiet and a little shy. I spoke with them a few minutes and I explained to the friend what each resource was and said to please feel free to have his parents call me if they have any questions or I can help in any way. She thanked me...

It wasn't awkward at all after the interaction started. Maybe they'll never call. Maybe they have all of these resources... but what if, what if they don't. What if ONE of those things can be helpful to them? I'll tell you what if... if it is, I've done my job as a mama and an advocate.

It's not always about us...

Part of this blog is education. Part of it is sharing our story. Part of it is connecting families. I've been beyond thrilled to do all and then some. Today, I'm sharing a story that will educate you, that's part of our story... of someone who is connected to our family. Josh Kennison is a friend, he's one of the warmest, welcoming people that you'll ever meet.

I remember one of my first conversations with him at Florida Camp No Limits. I remember him asking me about being a mother of a child with a limb difference. He asked about my feelings and thoughts and he also asked if I thought about it when I had each of the boys. I openly shared my thoughts and feelings with him, like he had been a friend for years. I knew he wasn't someone that would judge me or make me feel a certain way. That alone is priceless. As a parent, we often feel others are judging us... he did not make me feel this way. He genuinely listened and took in what I was saying.

What did I tell him? I wasn't afraid when I found out Bella had a limb difference, there were many "what if" questions but none of them were fear for me. I told him how Ryan and I researched shoe tying, ponytails, nail painting, crawling... the research was endless, we just wanted to be the best parents we could for our daughter. I remember telling him that I wasn't afraid of having other children with limb differences. I was more afraid of how my heart could have room to love two and then three babies all the same (don't worry it does!).

I remember watching Josh with the kids at camp. I watched him with the siblings. I watched him hug kids or offer his arm for them to hold. I watched Grayson pretend to be Josh because he admired him. I remember Grayson saying "Hi I'm Josh, nice to meet ya" as he was playing in our room. Clearly Josh had made an impact. His cool, kind demeanor touched my sweet three year old.

Today, Josh needs our help. He's having some struggles. He's a strong man, an independent man, a selfless man. Take time to read his story. Donate if you can, pray if you can, send him your positive thoughts, he could use it. Today is about helping Josh make ends meet so that he doesn't have to struggle.

https://www.gofundme.com/staying-caught-up