GREY MATTER LIFE

I made it through to the other side of August and we welcome with open arms September. 

With a promise of cooler temperatures, college football and baseball for the boys, September could not have arrived sooner. 

The emotional roller coaster continues and we continue along for the ride.  

Harper is now a “failure to thrive” baby as she hasn’t been gaining weight and fell off the weight chart. While the majority of her blood work came back great, we’ve been unable to rule out Celiac Disease. We continue to watch, wait and will re-test. A journey I’ve become accustom to in recent years. While I feel as if she is simply going to be a skinny kiddo, not being able to check the “all clear box” certainly leaves room for concern and worry.   

Cooper, after yet another Strep infection followed by yet another viral throat infection will be having his tonsils removed September 17^th. Here’s hoping this breaks the cycle of infection, illness and missing school and that his recovery is as swift and comfortable as possible. With the promise of as much ice-cream and frozen treats he can fill a grocery cart with; he hasn’t a worry about the surgery and is counting the days until his frozen treat vacation begins. 

Paul has finally made a commitment to his health and runs 5-6 days a week in the early morning hours. I think the looming 40^th birthday ahead finally set in and he’s faced the reality that he isn’t getting any younger. Now if I can manage to get myself out there as often we might be making some real progress around here.  

Tucker continues to make great strides in facing his dyslexia and learning processing challenges.  It’s been a winding ever evolving road and we continue to become enlightened with nuances of his diagnosis and therapies available to assist him. We evolve as we learn more.   

Occupational and vestibular therapies continue and we’ll be adding visual therapy in the coming weeks. He proudly sports a new pair of glasses which will serve to assist him to better “track” words and text as he reads. The past few years have been filled with eye-opening, challenging experiences. We navigate each layer of challenges as they emerge and assess what his needs are ane we move forward. He has had moments of self-doubt and insecurity and we’ve done our level best to instill confidence in him. Yet, not once has Tucker ever uttered that he can’t.   

When the demons of defeat begin to creep in, we’ve adopted a mantra that seems to solve all his woes.  

Practice makes progress. Progress moves you forward. Forward is your future. Perfect doesn’t exist.     

While I may not have received my dyslexia and learning processing diagnosis until I was 18 and never benefited from the services, private specialty school and therapies Tucker benefits from, I did manage to persevere when so many told me I couldn’t.  

Despite the long list of accomplished individuals with dyslexia such as Anderson Cooper, Richard Branson, Orlando Bloom, Einstein and the late Steve Jobs, I’m humbled by who he actually pays attention to.  

He looks to his classmates and peers and he looks to me. “Mommy and I both have dyslexia. She made it through and went to college and does a lot for other people… I can do that too.” He knows I walked the same arduous paths and faced the same challenges and made it out the other side.  

As a family we continue to walk those arduous paths and will continue to face each of our challenges head on because that is what life is about and how we live it. We welcome September and all that a new school year, sports season and fall brings.

We will forge ahead and we will continue look to one another for support, inspiration, motivation and an outstretched hand to hold. Practice makes progress. Progress moves your forward. Forward is your future. Perfect doesn’t exist.  

Tucker and I in Arizona. October 2007