Birthday present

One of Buddy's presents for his third birthday was a harmonica from Husband's parents. Husband was inspired by Garrison, a guy with WS whom we met at a picnic and who is amazing on the harmonica.



Buddy isn't quite there yet, but he's more interested in getting there than I thought he'd be.



It's been an amazing three years, and we love this little guy with all our hearts.

Picnic at the park

There's an instant connection between families of those with Williams syndrome. They know about SVAS, failure to thrive, developmental delays, OT, PT, hippo-therapy, and that feeling you get when you first receive the diagnosis. We enjoyed being with such families today at a WS picnic in a park about an hour away.

We met a lovely 70-year-old woman, who apparently began the national WS association 30 years ago, and her 45-year-old daughter with WS. They were both very sweet to talk with.

And Husband was encouraged by meeting a 14-year-old Garrison, whose specialty is playing the harmonica. (This is a video of him playing elsewhere, although he also played for us during the picnic.)

The piano

During my early and formative years, I took piano lessons. For whatever reason, out of all the songs we learned to play, the main one that sticks out in my memory is my sister's version of "Onward Christian Soldiers."

I can't say that I ever became really proficient at playing the piano, although I took lessons in college and accompanied the songtime at our church. Even so, when I moved away from my parents after college, I missed having a piano to tinker around on. Owning a piano has been on my wishlist ever since--one of those "some day . . . " dreams.

With Buddy's diagnosis and the knowledge that he may have musical abilities which would need to be nourished and encouraged, my desire to own a piano has intensified. In one study I read, those with WS indeed has musical abilities, but those who took lessons and trained in the art were actually proficient at it.

Thanks to the 30% tax credit on the geo-thermal system and to overpaying on my quarterly freelance taxes last year, our tax refund was quite sizable this year. Although we're putting most of it in savings, I cajoled Husband into thinking about spending some of it on a few luxury items.

I'd heard about a piano store closing on the other side of the city, and we took a drive over there on Saturday to see what they were offering. While I walked into the piano store thinking I might purchase a cheap upright piano, I walked out with (what I hope is) a good deal on this better-for-us digital piano (no tuning required!).

And today, dodging the raindrops, I brought the piano in from the car and set it up. Both Buddy and I have tried it out. He still has a long way to go to reach the "proficient" (or at least the "playing an actual song rather than just banging on the keys") stage.

Moving Forward

Buddy's diagnosis hit us both harder than I would have expected. I didn't realize how many expectations we held for him until we faced the possibility they would be taken away. But then, the Lord's peace began to work its way into our hearts. We know that His grace is sufficient and His mercies are new every morning. In fact, the verse on the bulletin cover this morning at church was, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

And, after grieving the loss of "what could have been" and wondering what this means for us and Buddy, we're ready to move on and embrace the possibilities of what will be. As you might expect, we've been researching Williams Syndrome, and little things like the following video are encouraging to us.



My mom has a master's degree in special education and is already researching the various therapies and interventions we can use as we work with Buddy. Husband's mom also has special insights into working with people with disabilities. We're surrounded by loving and encouraing family and friends, and we're looking forward to doing our best for our son. We'd like to see him "be all that he can be" (to borrow a phrase from the Army) and grow into the man God wants him to be.

For those who are interested in learning more about Williams Syndrome, here's a 45-minute video you can watch. Or if you're more of a reader, here's a website to peruse.

Thanks for praying for us.