September 25, 2009 Posted in Seniors
I have known Emily for 5 years. She was always the sweet, responsible, levelheaded quiet child reading a book somewhere. She is Miss Jenny’s daughter.
Who is Miss Jenny you ask?
Bottom line – she taught my Ellie to talk. And when someone is responsible for helping you through a raw and emotional time in your life you love them forever. DEEPLY. Ellie was diagnosed with apraxia (speech delay) and Miss Jenny was her speech therapist. We made weekly hour and a half round trips to her house for 3 years I think. All of my kids have a lot of childhood memories riding back and forth in the car to speech:) We would always look for a homeless guy we called Waldo (sounds mean but wasn’t), we would eat Laptops (KFC) at the beautiful cemetery and laugh at last names on the gravestones like Hurlbutt, and then we would finish off getting ice cream cones with hard candy eyeballs:)
But back to Emily. She is the calm in the storm, and even though she was feisty and saucy when I was taking her pictures she is wise beyond her years. Like that is an understatement. She has been around special needs kids her whole life and there is something different and mature about kids that have grown up around others that struggle. She rocks and I can’t wait to see what she becomes.
Hello beautiful:)
Total natural. the one on the left = my favorite.
Miss Jenny in the hooooooouse!
This is her baby Chiquita. She talks to her like a real human being. Adorable.
I will take hot, humid and sweaty any day over cold and dreary. ANY DAY.
Now that I have kids summer is my favorite season. I love shorts and tshirts instead of sweaters and jackets and keeping track of 8 gloves. I love to go to parks. I love building fires at night and roasting smores. I love my new hummingbird feeder. I love gardening and planting – my hibiscus went all James and the Giant Peach on me this year. I love the 4th of July. I love watching Jackson play baseball. I love Hilton Head. I love the fair. I love making salsa from Brad’s tomatoes. I love Vitamin D. I could go on and on….
Please – if you have googled me and are looking for a family photographer and this is the first thing you see – may I direct you to my galleries in the links above. Go straight there. Like now. No need to continue reading this post.
It all started about 3 years ago when Ellie and I were in the car driving down our street and I saw a toad jump out in front of us. It brought back a flood of memories from when I was her age and collected toads with my best friend Phebe. We kept them in her window well, called it our “Toad Factory” and named all of the occupants names starting in “Cl” – examples would be Clyde, Cleo, Clemetine, Cleavage. Oh how we thought we were so clever and daring naming a toad Cleavage. It brought many giggles.
So I scooped up the toad, put the car in reverse, put the toad in our window well and that is how it all began. We are now proud owners of about 10 toads in 2 different window wells. The big toads are in one and the little toads are in another. We have found a few, been given a few and travel for others. She always scores big at Aunt Lisa and Uncle Shawn’s wells:)
Ellie treats these toads like the Crown Jewels. Cares for them every. single. day. Rearranges their habitat. Adds pools and plants. Finds them worms…we also buy them worms at the pet store and feed them. It is a huge part of her life. The neighbors are in on it. The cousins are in on it. She has even sold some to a good home, lol. Not kidding. She knows them all by name. I can’t tell you how much she reminds me of me growing up. She is my clone.
So we had a photoshoot. Or as Brad called it a photoadoshoot. I figured I should document this. And now she can’t wait for me to put them on my blog (I hope I don’t loose any clients) so that she can direct her friends.
So here you go..
This is Mr. Obama. He is her favorite because he is the only red one she has.I had no idea what all of their names were until I took their pictures:)
This is Mr. FattyMcFatFat and he is truly fat.
Early one morning nine years ago we were woken up by an early morning phone call . The caller id said Riverside Hospital. I was so excited because I knew that meant that my best friend Susan was in the hospital having her baby. I answered the phone. She was sobbing. It was the last thing I expected. All I remember from the entire conversation was “they think she has Down Syndrome”. Then I remember staring at my bedroom ceiling for the longest time. Time stopped. I got out of bed, flew down to the hospital, walked into her room (super scary) and remember her looking at me crying nodding her head yes.
Whew! that just made me tear up.
I don’t remember much else from that day. Blur. But later on that night I remember going back and laying in bed with her. Phil was sitting in the chair biting his fingernails. I have no idea why it wasn’t the other way around. Susan was all doped up on painkillers and as much as we needed to be serious and crying at that moment we were laughing so hard making horribly inappropriate jokes about short buses and the Special Olympics. And everyone that knows Phil and Susan know when they get started with the jokes and the motions (and lets just throw a painkiller in there) they don’t stop. They have been through a lot and their laughter has saved time and time again.
So on that day I grew up. Period. There is no other way to say it. I became compassionate and realized that anything can happen. I look at people with disabilities so differently now. Susan and Phil have a ridiculous amount of friends (she gets about 150 Christmas cards) and we have all changed. Susan has an amazing way of educating and making people feel comfortable asking questions about Down Syndrome. I’ve seen her explain it to people at the park and ball fields 100 times and each time it gets better:) She practically makes it cool, lol.
Each year we look forward to the Buddy Walk. Susan had a HUGE part in getting it started 8? years ago. It is now so well attended that it has to be held at Crew Stadium. We love it. It is a day filled with emotions and hope and love and donuts. My kids talk about the donuts as if they only get them there…..
Notice the Blackstone’s don’t have Team Olivia on their shirts because I’m a losah!
by Cathy
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