Being a special needs parent has many challenges so it is always nice to know that we are not alone in our journey. This is one reason I like searching online for quotes that I can identify with and find inspiration from.
@EmbracingThisAbility and #GideonJamesJourney on Instagram
Late last year, I created a new Instagram account for this blog. It is where I share snippets of my son’s life with the aim to encourage and inspire fellow parents and other special needs advocates to find silver linings in every situation. But even before @embracingthisability on IG was born, I have already been using the hashtag #GideonJamesJourney to help me and others to easily find photos posted about him.
Here are 17 quotes I’ve used and which I felt helped me express better the messages I wanted to share. Some of them I couldn’t find an attribution to, some are my own words.
“Motherhood is about raising – and celebrating – the child you have, not the child you thought you would have. It’s about understanding that he is exactly the person he is supposed to be. And that, if you’re lucky, he just might be the teacher who turns you into the person you are supposed to be.” ~ Joan Ryan, author of The Water Giver: The Story of a Mother, a Son, and Their Second Chance
Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” ~ Mother Teresa
“You don’t raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they’ll turn out to be heroes, even if it’s just in your own eyes.” ~ Walter M. Schirra Sr., army flier in WWI
“Anyone can make you smile, many people can make you cry, but it takes someone really special to make you smile with tears in your eyes.” ~ Unknown
“I thought I would have to teach my son about the world; turns out I have to teach the world about my son. Some people see a child who cannot speak, I see a miracle who needs no words.” ~ Unknown
“Sometimes, being a brother is even better than being a superhero.” ~ Marc Brown, author of the Arthur book series
“I have learned that to be with those I [love] is enough.” ~ Walt Whitman, American poet
“As special needs parents, we don’t have the power to make life ‘fair,’ but we do have the power to make life joyful.” ~ Unknown
“I don’t want a perfect person, I just want someone to act silly with, someone who treats me well and loves being with me more than anything.” ~ Unknown
“I may be a child with special needs but, if you allow me, I will give you a lot of opportunities – the opportunity to discover the depth of your character, not mine; the opportunity to measure the intensity of your love, your commitment, your patience, and your abilities; and the opportunity to explore your spirit more deeply than you imagined possible.” ~ Ruth Floresca
“What you carry in your heart will always determine how you’ll see the world.” ~ Unknown
“Of all the things our hands have held, one of the best, so far, is you.” ~ Unknown
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ from Gratitude: Inspirations by Melody Beattie
“Gentleness is not weakness. Just the opposite. Preserving a gentle spirit in a heartless world takes extraordinary courage, determination, and resilience. Do not underestimate the power of gentleness because gentleness is strength wrapped in peace, and therein lies the power to change the world.” ~ L.R. Knost, author of Two Thousand Kisses a Day
“There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.” ~ Bram Stoker, author
“No diagnosis should ever change a parent’s capacity to deeply love a child with special needs.” ~ Ruth Floresca
“Parenting a special needs child has its ups and downs. The wonderful thing is, we could choose to focus on the good, happy moments and keep those as wonderful memories. Happiness is always a choice. Always!” ~ Ruth Floresca
