Josie's Journey

Josie (sort of) Goes Back to School. The beginning of September and our social media feeds are covered with those adorable back to school photos. I do it too - every year. I stick to my non-crafty-mom schtick - a simple piece of note pad paper with a sharpie drawn - First Grade! Second Grade!  You get it. I got Tanner to hold it up this year despite his 14-year-old, stop-taking-pictures-of-me attitude.  He did it with a fake smile and his breakfast in hand and oh how that warmed my heart. For Josie, this year gave me incredible pause.  Well, first of all, she's not even going back to actual school yet. Since the pandemic started in March 2020, she has been home.  The school nurse she had for many years found another job and now isn't available.  Josie requires a nurse to come to our house, ride the bus with her, and stay with her all day until they return back to our home around 4pm. The agency found a nurse for Josie to return to school for a few weeks this sum...

...Shine 'til the break of day. An update from Josie's school Josie's teacher has been sending me some photos of our little school girl. She writes, "Josie brings so much joy to our classroom. From the minute she arrives, she's got us all laughing." That's my girl. Life isn't what we planned, right? We sure didn't plan that Josie wouldn't be able to walk into her kindergarten classroom by herself or talk to her friends, but if she can laugh every day and be someone who brings joy to those around her, well, she's doing just fine. The soundtrack of Josie's Journey: "Soulshine" by The Allman Brother's Band So why the title of this post? Soulshine is one of my all-time favorite songs. It's originally an Allman Brothers tune, written by Warren Haynes with vocals by Gregg Allman. Warren's kept it strong with his Gov't Mule version. So get this... in two nights in NYC, there will be a benefit concert celebratin...

Today is momentous. I am writing this from the second floor, in the boardroom aka "the parents waiting room," of the Little Village School while Josie is downstairs in her Kindergarten classroom. Josie's first day of school. Josie's first day away from home. Throughout 2014, when Josie's seizures were bad, really bad, and we were in and out of the hospital, it was hard for me to envision this day. The idea of handing her over to spend the day without us nearby, or without her Janny (Janice/nanny) was unfathomable. And here we are. I'm sitting in this boardroom alone, surprisingly. I guess it's not every child's very first day away from home. Yup, this is my first rodeo. People from the school, including the school director, have been coming in to give me reports. "Josie is doing great, she's laughing hysterically at animals noises." Obviously, who doesn't laugh when adults make animal noises? Josie's new PT just came b...