Here’s a list of the blog posts I meant to write this week (the picture, by the way, is fun enough that I had hoped to come up with some creative something to say about it. I never got that far, so you just get the picture instead): “What’s wrong with my daughter? I’m no long sure how to answer that question…” “Your limitations are your possibilities…” “What it means to know you are loved by God…” “Teaching our kids... Read more
I have a new post on her.meneutics about the near-destruction of our family’s summer cottages during Hurricane Irene. It begins: For New York City, Hurricane Irene was largely a non-event, an unnecessary nuisance with unprecedented action. For me and my extended family, Hurricane Irene was a life-changing storm. Sure, there were power outages and phone lines down and flooding and roads closed. But the impact I’m writing about was to two old summer cottages that have been in our family... Read more
I didn’t really want kids for a long time. That’s a story for another day, but I might as well admit it. I thought they would slow me down. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to achieve my own goals. I thought I might not know what I was doing as a parent. And I was right, on all fronts. Which is just one of the reasons why I desperately need my children. They humble me. Take today. I... Read more
I have written before about the concept of a “wrongful” birth–the legal term used when a mother sues doctors after her child has been born with a disability that wasn’t discovered in utero. The idea is that the mother would have aborted, given the proper medical information. I wrote a response to one of these lawsuits a few months back: “A Letter to Mrs. Zhuang.” Another 4.5 million has been awarded to a mother in Florida. Click here to read... Read more
As a writer and former English major, I know that language matters. The way we talk about our world informs the way we experience our world. Language shapes reality. And so we are teaching our kids, for example, not to say “I hate that” (they learned hate from Cinderella, of all places!). We support the “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign, which works to raise awareness about the hurtfulness of the pejorative use of the word “retarded” or... Read more
I have a new post on Bloom–Parenting Kids with Disabilities, “Friends in Need, Friends Indeed.” It begins: I have 300 new friends. Well, not really. But last week, a woman who knows I write about having a child with Down syndrome sent me a Facebook message and a friend request. I responded. She then “suggested” approximately 300 new friends, all men and women (but mostly women) with children with Down syndrome. On one level, these are artificial friendships. I’ve never... Read more
I received a very kind comment over the weekend. In response to my recent post, “Penny’s First Day of Kindergarten,” she wrote, Wow, did she really tell you all about the funny man up on the stage? What did she say? Do people understand her when she speaks and does she really speak that clearly? I do not know any other kid with Ds that speaks like your daughter. Somehow in your writing I get the impression that her articulation... Read more
A lot of my friends describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” I think I know what they mean. I think they don’t want some of the restrictions that come with religiosity–the rules that mandate saying certain prayers or feeling lots of guilt. They don’t want to find themselves in the category of “closed-minded” or exclusive. And they probably don’t want the particularity of religion or the authority of say, a priest or the Church with a capital C. With... Read more
Sharon Hodde Miller was kind enough to promote my book on her blog, sheworships.com. For those of you who would like another preview of A Good and Perfect Gift, you can read Part One here and Part Two here. Also, A Good and Perfect Gift is now available on Kindle. Click here to download it now. Finally, if you’ve already read it and would like to help get the word out, please consider writing a review on Amazon and/or sending... Read more
Are you in a Book Club? (This is besides the point of this blogpost, but as a personal aside–if so, what have been your top three books in the past year?) Just wanted to let you and your book club know that there are now Questions for Discussion available on my website about A Good and Perfect Gift. Go to my website (www.amyjuliabecker.com) and go to the “Books” page. After the press release, click on the link that says, “Questions... Read more
Thin Places-Faith, Family and Disability
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