Downs Syndrome Special

Published March 21, 2016 by Nan Mykel

Adopting Jana

adoptingjana.wordpress.com

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World Down Syndrome Day

Jen Benito
8h ago
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It is our first WDSD! I can’t believe that last year I had no clue this day even existed. Jana has opened our eyes to such a wonderful new community. Honestly, the families I encounter have so much love and joy, you can just see it in their eyes. It’s not because there are no pains to Down Syndrome, it’s because these special people bring so much happiness and blessings, it makes it all worth it!

I love every bit of our Jana. I wouldn’t change a single part of her. Jana is more than just a baby with Down Syndrome…but it is also so much of who she is. In the most wonderful way!! Her differences make her even more beautiful. I am so honored to be her mom! God had a plan the day she was born…How I was lucky enough to be a part of it, I’m not sure!!

So today, honor those who make our world unique. The ones who wear their hearts on their sleeves, who wish to be loved and cherished, those who are true heroes in every sense of the word!

Happy World
Down Syndrome Day!!

Marvelous. So glad you keep us on top of things in the Downs Cmmunity. Could you pass my site along to someone? I like to re-blog informative materal.

Words

Published March 20, 2016 by Nan Mykel

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Words can TOUCH.

Words can chatter.

Words can tell you

what’s the matter.

Words can cut,

splice and dice.

In other words,

be not nice.

Lying words

I’ve come to hate;

Embers dying in the grate.

Empty words like love

and forever

go poof like bubbles

In bad weather.

So what can I say

when all is done?

Add a grain of salt

To everyone.

Nan

On a cold winter’s night can you imagine the drama?

Published March 17, 2016 by Nan Mykel

….In the animal and insect world, with freezing bodies vying with each other for the relative warmth behind the door? How many different species might co-mingle inside, perhaps too numb from the cold to care that they made strange bedfellows? Did any snuggle up against a diferent species with longer, warmer fur? 060

Initially some breeds (or species) must have discovered that try as they might, they could not manage the squeeze. Where did they find protection from the bitter wind, perhaps snow? And what was the limit on how many bodies the shelter could hold? Did it burgeon with life as hotels sometimes do in a blizzard?

Did the sress bring out the worst in them or the best? How many remains of deceased creatures were left, moulderng? Would the vultures dare enter a pen from which they might not escape? One (me) would like to envision a snug little colony that frequently gathers in the old tower together, to escape inclement weather. The photo was taken last Sunday, so the free “room at the inn” for creatures is still in business in Gallipolis, Ohio.

Beats what’s on television these days.

Loving letters to addict’s daughter

Published March 17, 2016 by Nan Mykel

A beautiful post:

Dear Daughter

Posted on March 12, 2016 4 Comments

Hush little baby, don’t say a word, Papa’s going to buy you a mocking bird…

Dear Daughter,

I know it’s hard to understand why I couldn’t stay, but somewhere along the path, your daddy lost his way; then a little birdie came to me with good advice to say; I listened hard and held on tight, then up and flew away; that’s how it had to be, so away I had to fly – so very, very far from you, up, up into the sky. Now in California, I could only think of you, but to be a better daddy meant a mission to renew. The daddy that you need, a man that isn’t scared; undeniably reliable and no longer impaired. Wherever we may lay our heads, no count how far apart, I see you in my reflection and keep you safe inside my heart. Somehow, someday you will have to learn that life’s not always fair; press on my dear, and never fear, I promise I’ll be there – then there are the ones who choose to never understand; this disease left daddy ostracized and banished from the land; but it cannot break our bond, nor ever empty my affection; it fuels my fire to inspire the remedy to their rejection.

And if that mocking bird don’t sing, Papa’s going to buy you a diamond ring…

Dear Daughter,

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A diamond is forever, and you’re my diamond in the rough, so no matter what else happens, you’ll forever be enough. We live, we laugh, we learn, but the time comes when we fail, get back up and try again, that’s how you will prevail. And when you get distraught; or disgruntled; or disgraced, you can know that I have been there too with mud upon my face. I’ll never offer judgement when you’re not winning the race, just an understanding; just a warm embrace. So my dearest daughter, please hear these words I speak, I’ll advocate to bear the weight as we’re climbing towards the peak. But if your daddy stumbles; if I should tumble down the drop, promise me to carry on and make it to the top. Your destiny is way up high, just work at it and take it, I have no doubt you’ll knock it out and ultimately make it. Your definition of success will be revealed – go along, and what you’ve known as set it stone, might always have been wrong – I challenge you, sweet baby girl, to forge yourself a dream; the highs and lows are how it goes, revel in the in between.

And if that diamond ring turns brass, Papa’s going to buy you a looking glass…

Dear Daughter,

I wish I could undo so many things that I have done, not taken us for granted; but made us number one. I regret it every day, that I couldn’t see it coming; I was wrapped up in escaping, indulging in life numbing. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you or you made any mistakes; I made a choice and lost it all – sometimes that’s what it takes. But I have started to lose sight of that dark and stormy cloud, forever hanging over me, so I can make you proud; and the time that we have lost, isn’t time that’s lost forever – you are my heart and soul, baby girl, my shiny little treasure.

And if that looking glass….ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

PIOTROWSKI ON DREAMS

Published March 16, 2016 by Nan Mykel

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Endings of dreams are important because they usually reveal what dreamers are inclined and ready to do about conflicts dramatized in their dreams…

Comparisons of the beginnings and ends of dreams are of great prognostic significance, and when dreamers move toward improvement during dreams, prognosis for spontaneous and therapeutic improvement are favorable. As a rule, nightmares do not augur a worsening of dreamer’s personal conditions…

Both affective upheaval and the dreamer’s resultant mobility are much more favorable than affective flatness or passive resignation.

See Zygmunt Antoni Piotrowski, in Dreams: A Key to Self Knowledge.

I Am The Passenger

Published March 16, 2016 by Nan Mykel

Simply beautiful and well put and truthful. Reminds me of “Denial of Death” by Ernest Becker. So close to the bone! I never realized how it would affect the animal kingdom!

Juliet Naked

Iwoke up this morning with a bad case of the blues. I’m not really sure what to write. Depression has her way with me in my sleep and then clings to me like a caul when my eyes open and I have to pretend to be functional.

Things seem OK, then not OK. The tiny tragedies that make me crumble taper off, then return in a full-force gale. I can’t handle some of the basic pressures of being alive. There seems to be no end-game or goal – no purpose – to any of it. We are born. We become instruments of a machine far larger than our minds can comprehend. We reproduce. We die.

We die.

What an impossible burden to place on a species, the consciousness of death. And we, among all of our neighbors on this planet, are alone in our understanding of Death’s inevitability. I’m not…

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I Watched Bernie on Charter Schools

Published March 14, 2016 by Nan Mykel

Diane Ravitch's blog

I watched the replay of the Ohio Town Hall specifically to understand what Bernie said about charter schools.

The teacher who posed the question was a TFA charter teacher. She asked a leading question. She asserted that in Ohio, charter schools lead the state in helping poor black and Hispanic children, then she asked whether they should play a role in solving the problems of these children.

To begin with, her assertion was inaccurate. It was propaganda for charters, which in Ohio have experienced numerous financial and academic scandals. In addition, she failed to mention that charters are far more likely to be low-performing than public schools. (See: here and here). Ohio has charter operators who give large campaign contributions and evade accountability. Some Ohio charter owners have made millions.

Bernie Sanders responded that he supports public education, and he supports public charter schools. He then talked about the…

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Journal Entry While in Therapy

Published March 14, 2016 by Nan Mykel

4-17-1982 – I don’t like myself for not liking myself. In therapy I feel very exposed and vulnerable and got an image of myself as a mess of seaweed dashed against the rocks and left exposed to the birds to pick sea-grape from my hair. I remembered that one of the reasons I left therapy with D.T. was because I didn’t think he liked me, even disliked me. I realized I still feel “Dr. Analyst” at least respects me and my struggle. I couldn’t stay with any analyst that I believe dislikes me, either.

4-20-1982 – I imaged me in the womb eating my umbilical cord.