It’s not only children who grow.  Parents do too.  As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours.  I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun.  All I can do is reach for it myself. – Joyce Maynard

I was looking through a folder of photos taken some time ago, moments that had been captured and then somehow misplaced amidst the constant bustle that is a therapy center.  There were beautiful shots of kids on horses, but what caught my eye was a series of a mother and son. 

Everyday we see mothers and fathers who have found the strength and courage to be their child’s parent, advocate, and protector.  They look past their fears and forwards towards a future that may at times seem impossibly out of reach.  All parents know that raising a child is a feat of endurance, not a long race, but an inexhaustible series of short ones.  But to raise a special needs child is to often run those races blind, unable to see what may lie around the next curve.  Undoubtably there’s moments of exhaustion, but those are far outnumbered by occasions of extreme joy.  Hearing your child howl with laughter as their horse trots down the arena, watching them put aside their walker to climb aboard their favorite pony, knowing for that half-hour they’ve forgotten about the doctor’s visits and all the times they’ve been told no.  Because for that half-hour the answer is yes.  Yes, you can play basketball.  Yes, you can be a princess.  Yes, you can be fast.  So fast the rest of the world has to run to keep up.