Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 After reading all of the "exchanges" about the emotional challenges related to dealing with Celiac on a daily basis, I thought I would share the attached "poem". Someone sent this to me the day after my oldest child (w/Celiac) was born with Down Syndrome. I think it applies to SO many situations, if you've never seen it I hope it brings you some peace - it always does for me. Like said yesterday in his speech, we are all guaranteed life will provide us with struggle & heartache, but we figure out a way to march on. Considering he & his wife have made it through what I perceive to be the greatest loss you can experience, I figure I can always make it through another day - with or without gluten! Best wishes & a great day to you all- Your files are attached and ready to send with this message. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Thank you nn -- I didn't want anyone to not be able to read it if they wanted to, but didn't know how to "share" it from a different format! I also don't want anyone to think I chose to share this to belittle anyone else's struggles -- exactly the opposite!! I remind myself daily of how small our struggles are compared to others too, and just thought this poem might be helpful to others no matter where you are in your life or your grieving. My best to all- Re: A trip to Holland I can't view this poem in that format, but I have read it before. I hope it is okay to post it again here for others who also can't view it. It does include the authors information, so I hope it is okay. WELCOME TO HOLLANDby Perl Kingsley.c1987 by Perl Kingsley. All rights reservedI am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo . The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.One comment I had before is that being Celiac, and having children with Celiac is certainly not as severe a situation as having a child with a more serious disability like down syndrome, or autism or CF or the myriad of other things than can go wrong with our bodies. We need to put it into perspective here. I see it like this, We might have to live in Holland, but we can still visit Italy. We just have to bring along our own food!Certainly this is hard to put into perspective when you are in the early stages of the grieving period. I personally grieved the loss of certain favorite foods but was very grateful for a diagnosis, but since I was passed that for myself, I did not grieve so much for my children when they recieved their test results/diagnosis. I was actually relieved, since it would be much easier to keep the whole family gf than to try to keep only one or two of us, out of a family of five. I was also able to help my children though the grieving process, since I had already gone through it. They are very well adjusted to the diet now, but they still miss a lot of dairy products! I think it makes it harder that their doctor keeps telling them that they might outgrow the casein sensitivity. We will have to see...God bless,nn Maslan wrote: After reading all of the "exchanges" about the emotional challenges related to dealing with Celiac on a daily basis, I thought I would share the attached "poem". Someone sent this to me the day after my oldest child (w/Celiac) was born with Down Syndrome. I think it applies to SO many situations, if you've never seen it I hope it brings you some peace - it always does for me. Like said yesterday in his speech, we are all guaranteed life will provide us with struggle & heartache, but we figure out a way to march on. Considering he & his wife have made it through what I perceive to be the greatest loss you can experience, I figure I can always make it through another day - with or without gluten! Best wishes & a great day to you all- Your files are attached and ready to send with this message. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 I can't view this poem in that format, but I have read it before. I hope it is okay to post it again here for others who also can't view it. It does include the authors information, so I hope it is okay. WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Perl Kingsley. c1987 by Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo . The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things .... about Holland. One comment I had before is that being Celiac, and having children with Celiac is certainly not as severe a situation as having a child with a more serious disability like down syndrome, or autism or CF or the myriad of other things than can go wrong with our bodies. We need to put it into perspective here. I see it like this, We might have to live in Holland, but we can still visit Italy. We just have to bring along our own food! Certainly this is hard to put into perspective when you are in the early stages of the grieving period. I personally grieved the loss of certain favorite foods but was very grateful for a diagnosis, but since I was passed that for myself, I did not grieve so much for my children when they recieved their test results/diagnosis. I was actually relieved, since it would be much easier to keep the whole family gf than to try to keep only one or two of us, out of a family of five. I was also able to help my children though the grieving process, since I had already gone through it. They are very well adjusted to the diet now, but they still miss a lot of dairy products! I think it makes it harder that their doctor keeps telling them that they might outgrow the casein sensitivity. We will have to see... God bless, nn Maslan wrote: After reading all of the "exchanges" about the emotional challenges related to dealing with Celiac on a daily basis, I thought I would share the attached "poem". Someone sent this to me the day after my oldest child (w/Celiac) was born with Down Syndrome. I think it applies to SO many situations, if you've never seen it I hope it brings you some peace - it always does for me. Like said yesterday in his speech, we are all guaranteed life will provide us with struggle & heartache, but we figure out a way to march on. Considering he & his wife have made it through what I perceive to be the greatest loss you can experience, I figure I can always make it through another day - with or without gluten! Best wishes & a great day to you all- Your files are attached and ready to send with this message. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 It's a beautiful poem . Thank you for sharing it. Cari > >Reply-To: SillyYaks >To: <SillyYaks > >Subject: Re: A trip to Holland >Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2004 13:36:18 -0600 > >Thank you nn -- I didn't want anyone to not be able to read it if they >wanted to, but didn't know how to " share " it from a different format! > >I also don't want anyone to think I chose to share this to belittle anyone >else's struggles -- exactly the opposite!! I remind myself daily of how >small our struggles are compared to others too, and just thought this poem >might be helpful to others no matter where you are in your life or your >grieving. > >My best to all- > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 I totally agree with you . Although it is a challenge everyday, it certainly could be worse! I really do like the poem. It really puts into words how a lot of people feel when life throws change our way. It is especially difficult to deal with when we are talking about our children. I am thankful to God everyday for having children that are actually healthy! And they will stay that way with the diet. It certainly could be a lot worse. I noticed after I had posted a copy of that Poem that you posted it in a different format. I was able to read it then, so I apologize for the double posting of it. God bless, nn Maslan wrote: Thank you nn -- I didn't want anyone to not be able to read it if they wanted to, but didn't know how to "share" it from a different format! I also don't want anyone to think I chose to share this to belittle anyone else's struggles -- exactly the opposite!! I remind myself daily of how small our struggles are compared to others too, and just thought this poem might be helpful to others no matter where you are in your life or your grieving. My best to all- ----- Original Message ----- From: fernandofamily@... To: SillyYaks Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 1:41 PM Subject: Re: A trip to Holland I can't view this poem in that format, but I have read it before. I hope it is okay to post it again here for others who also can't view it. It does include the authors information, so I hope it is okay. WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Perl Kingsley. c1987 by Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo . The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland. One comment I had before is that being Celiac, and having children with Celiac is certainly not as severe a situation as having a child with a more serious disability like down syndrome, or autism or CF or the myriad of other things than can go wrong with our bodies. We need to put it into perspective here. I see it like this, We might have to live in Holland, but we can still visit Italy. We just have to bring along our own food! Certainly this is hard to put into perspective when you are in the early stages of the grieving period. I personally grieved the loss of certain favorite foods but was very grateful for a diagnosis, but since I was passed that for myself, I did not grieve so much for my children when they recieved their test results/diagnosis. I was actually relieved, since it would be much easier to keep the whole family gf than to try to keep only one or two of us, out of a family of five. I was also able to help my children though the grieving process, since I had already gone through it. They are very well adjusted to the diet now, but they still miss a lot of dairy products! I think it makes it harder that their doctor keeps telling them that they might outgrow the casein sensitivity. We will have to see... God bless, nn Maslan wrote: After reading all of the "exchanges" about the emotional challenges related to dealing with Celiac on a daily basis, I thought I would share the attached "poem". Someone sent this to me the day after my oldest child (w/Celiac) was born with Down Syndrome. I think it applies to SO many situations, if you've never seen it I hope it brings you some peace - it always does for me. Like said yesterday in his speech, we are all guaranteed life will provide us with struggle & heartache, but we figure out a way to march on. Considering he & his wife have made it through what I perceive to be the greatest loss you can experience, I figure I can always make it through another day - with or without gluten! Best wishes & a great day to you all- Your files are attached and ready to send with this message. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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