My Very First Blog

Welcome to my first blog post. I am entering a new phase in my life and decided to begin by sharing it on the world wide web. This is a scary prospect for me! However, I am taking the plunge. Please allow me to give you a little background information so you may have a better understanding of my future posts.

One year ago, I quit my nursing job at a local pediatric hospital and became a stay at home mom...again. This time my "baby" is a 20 something year old young man who aged out of his special needs program in the public school system. B-man, as I will call him, is now my constant companion. He is also non-verbal. Talk about your one sided conversations! What I found out was that there are not a lot of programs out there for special needs adults with his level of ability. B-man, who is in a wheelchair, has cerebral palsy, severe developmental delay and numerous health issues including a congenital heart defect. As he has aged, his health has declined and he now requires 16 different medications twice daily along with a nebulizer and CPT Vest machine which help keep his lungs free of mucous buildup and assists in preventing pneumonia. He is a sweet young man that can light up a room with his smile. B-man participates in Special Olympics bowling and has gold, silver and bronze medals for his efforts. He also rides horses as part of a therapeutic hippo therapy program. He has an older sister "Sissy" who is married and now has a young child of her own.

As an only child, I have always been a bit of a loner but I had no idea how isolating being a stay at home mom could be. When the children were younger, I lived near family and saw them quite often. Now, doing it for the second time around, my nearest family member is 3 hours away. Never being one to have lots of friends, I now wished that I had put myself out there and made more friends when I had the chance. I have one friend here who is my next door neighbor and a few casual acquaintances. The close friends I do have are in my hometown, but again that is 3 hours away! My husband is my best friend, however, he is not a girl and women need their girlfriends.



As challenging as all of this may sound, it is also most rewarding. I get a glimpse into a whole other world of people and how they interact. I see abundant happiness, joy and selflessness taken to a new level. People with special needs are just that, very special people indeed.

Please join me in my journey and learn along with me. My posts will vary by content and length and many may be off topic. I look forward to finding out where this takes me.