For Rhonda, wherever we may find you

               So, we have had a kind of sad day today.  Feisty Pants has lost one of her therapists today. Well, not lost, lost.  The woman has not died, for goodness sakes. Although, it kinda feels that way. The therapist is moving onto other things and other clients farther away from here. Sigh.  Change is hard.  Seeing something wonderful end is really hard.  Seeing something wonderful for your disabled child end is really, really frigging hard.  But in the spirit of "don't cry because its over, smile because it happened", I thought I would send this shout out of gratitude for all the therapists and health care providers who have made such an impact on Feisty Pants' life.   (And a special thanks for Simon and Garfunkel for giving me a great title to paraphrase.)

               So, dear Rhonda (and all the other therapists and teachers and nurses and doctors we have lost along the way)  I want to thank you.  For a lot of things. For taking good care of my kid.  For caring about her as more than just a patient. For seeing the child within- and for seeing her as intelligent and caring and full of things to offer the world.   For offering me hope when, even if I never said it, it was sometimes scarce along this journey. For making her feel as if you were truly and wholly on her side.  For occasionally kicking her butt into gear when she was acting like a stubborn kid.  (What?!?!? Feisty pants stubborn?!?!  Who would've thunk  it?)  And, thank you, especially Rhonda for being an amazing calming presence in her life when she sorely needed it.  You were the first person outside the family that she ever said "I love you" to - and that instantly made you feel like family forever.

              Feisty Pants, like any kid, is a lot of work.  But Feisty Pants, unlike many kids, is a heck of a lot of hard physical labor. Every single day she has made it through, someone helped along the way.  Every single night that she drifts peacefully (or not so peacefully) off to sleep, someone worked to help make possible. Any damn thing she does for herself, someone worked hard to help her discover how.

              So, dear Rhonda, and all the therapists and nurses and doctors and teachers we have parted ways with along the way, we wish you well. We wish you peace and productivity and great pay and benefits and love and happiness and all that good stuff.  And if life ever brings back our way, we will welcome you with open arms and hearts greedy for therapy.  You will know where we are, just listen for Feisty Pants' laughter and look for the light in her eyes.  The light that is there because of you.