Thursday, November 02, 2006


From Bennie:

It's quite ironic the choice of my latest art offering. The suspicion would the that every parent of an exceptional child experiences that thought not once, but many times a day. I'm even more positive that our children think the same thing every time they work with their respective therapists.

We are very thankful that Ben has a determination that goes way beyond our initial expectations. When a child with such profound "problems" like Ben is presented to his or her family the reaction runs the gamut. We know of families that give up. We know of families that never really know what to do. We know of families that just follow the flow that government agencies make for them. Then there are families like us.

I have felt a connection with Ben since the early days of his life in the NICU. Whether it be through eye contact, a squeeze of the hand, or some strange sound he would make I knew Ben was communicating with us. There was never any doubt in my mind. My gut feeling has ALWAYS been that whatever the outcome, Ben deserves a chance at as much of a "normal" life as possible.

Me and Joan think that has been the key to Ben's successes. Failure has never been an option for Ben. Don't get us wrong - there have been plenty of times that we've either delayed some therapies or completely abandoned them due to health issues or the fact that Ben would not respond.

Overall I think our choices have been wise. Ben has bounced back from some serious illnesses, some of which we thought we would lose him. At the moment Ben is "under the weather." Lisa Stamy (Ben's nurse today) did an excellent job of caring for him. By the end of the day he was smiling, talking, and playing with toys.

A year or so ago we'd be looking at a hospital visit had he awakened with today's symptoms. Direct credit goes to Beth Teshon and Cheryl Laport. Both are therapists that no longer get to see Ben every week. Our hope is they both get to visit Ben often. These two ladies are most responsible for Ben gaining the strength that he has. I cannot say enough about how wonderful these women are and the Waddells love them dearly.

As always we thank you for reading. Our hope is that you enjoy our painting works together enough so that you may purchase one (or two).

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