Faith's Mom's Blog

It's been a while since I have put up a blog post. I also haven't been very active on Faith's Mom's Facebook page. That's because the month of August was dedicated to moving!  About 4 years ago, Faith and I moved from the apartment she grew up in, to a different one in northeast Bismarck. The primary reason for the move was to have underground parking so that getting her loaded into the van by myself during our cold, snowy winters would be less of a challenge. We also needed to find a place in which the elevator didn't break down on a regular basis!  One of our last sunsets at our old apartment  That place served us well, but the drive to her day program, which is located across the river in Mandan was time consuming, not to mention, expensive. I drove about 45 miles a day and used up a tank of gas a week!  Searching for a New Place  Before our lease ended, I began praying about finding somewhere else to live. A condo would have been nice, but surprisingly not a...

Topsy-turvy...that's the only word I can think of to describe the month of March. It's been disorderly, chaotic, and a bit out of joint. There have been ups and downs. Highs and lows.  It all started out well enough. My dad celebrated his 75th birthday. This was an especially big deal as he gave us all a scare last month when he came down with a staph infection, which entered his bloodstream. He was very sick and his doctor said if he would have waited 1 more day before going to the ER, the outcome might have been different.  Celebrating my dad's 75th birthday!  On his birthday, we just had a small party as he was not yet feeling 100 percent. A couple of weeks later, when Dawn was here with Faith and I stayed with my parents, I noticed he seemed like he had more energy and was feeling better. I am very thankful for that!  Another person in my family (my sister Tesa) also had a milestone birthday this month. She turned 50! We were all hoping it would work out to have ...

This past week marked a huge milestone in Faith's life - she has been at her day program for 4 years! I well remember how excited I felt when I found out that in order to qualify for the program, all she needed was to be 18 and have a high school diploma.  I know that is not the case in some states. And in many cases, parents choose to have their special needs child in school until they are 21 and then after that they can attend a day program. For Faith though, since I homeschooled her, we were both ready for her to move on to her adult life when she turned 18!  Faith at the Science Center with one of her day program staff  After a few meetings with her case manager and day program staff, she was ready for her first day. But was I? She was excited when I dropped her off, but as I drove away from the building, I began to cry. Would she really be okay here? Would staff know what to do if she looked uncomfortable or seemed like she was in pain? Faith is verbal, but she canno...

 Lately, I've been feeling very fortune to live in a community that provides so many activities for those with special needs and disabilities. Last year on her 21st birthday, Faith began taking adaptive dance classes at Northern Plains Dance (NPD). They offer five sessions throughout the year. We opted out of the session offered in January and February, mainly just to avoid being out in the brutal weather winter more than we have to be.  Faith working on some dance skills with ribbons.  During the February/March sessions, her class began practicing for their "big performance," which would take place during the student showcase. All of the dancers at NPD participated in this showcase. Her class would be performing to "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake.  Faith was excited not only because of the song, but because both of her dance partners would be on stage dancing with her. During the sessions, her partners take turns with her from week to week, ...

Did you know there are 1 million people in the United States who have cerebral palsy? I guess that means Faith truly is one in a million!  Faith was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was six months old. Prior to that, she had been given the diagnosis of Periventricular Leukomalacia  (PVL). During her premature birth, there was a lack of oxygen to her brain, which resulted in damage to the white matter, or inner part of her brain.  I will never forget receiving that news. Faith's Dad and I were told that nobody knew what the long-term effects of PVL would look like for her. All I could do was stare at my tiny daughter lying in her isolette, hooked up to all kinds of tubes and lines, and choose to believe she would be okay.  Faith in the NICU a few days after she was born. After over 70 days in the NICU, we finally took her home to Watford City. There, she would receive regular visits from an Early Intervention team who would assess her and ensure that she met al...

Faith loves going to plays, musicals, ballet performances, and other events in which her friends perform. When she was younger, I thought attending these things would be too overwhelming for her as she has a strong startle reflex. Usually, it's loud or sudden noises that trigger her startle response. However, when the noise is constant, or she knows what to expect, she actually does very well. That's why when I found out that Dreams in Motion was doing wheelchair dance, I figured she would want to do it. When I asked, she enthusiastically said, "YES!"  She was so excited to go to her first practice. She told everyone she saw that she was going to be in a dance performance! During practice, we found out the theme was Encanto (which we have never seen). They were going to be dancing to a medley of songs from the movie. There were about a dozen participants, some with manual wheelchairs and others with powerchairs.  During practice, each of them was paired with a volun...