Colleen Sell - A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Special Needs: Stories that celebrate the differences in our extraordinary kids

For Dennis and Junella Sell, with love, admiration, and
gratitude, and for Cindy, Gregory, and Christopher, and in
loving memory of Donetta and Randall (Buddy) Sell.

A CUP OF
COMFORT
for Parents of Children
with Special Needs

Stories that celebrate the differences
in our extraordinary kids

Edited by Colleen Sell

Copyright 2009 by F+W Media, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be
reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher;
exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

A Cup of Comfort is a registered trademark of F+W Media, Inc.

Published by
Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com and www.cupofcomfort.com

ISBN 10: 1-60550-088-7
ISBN 13: 978-1-60550-088-1
eISBN: 978-1-44051-993-2
Printed in the United States of America.

J I H G F E D C B A

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available from the publisher.

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Contents

Colleen Sell

Lisa Peters

Elizabeth King Gerlach

Jennifer Gunter

Ellen Ward

Cynthia Agricola Hinkle

Mercedes M. Yardley

Jolie Kanat

Patricia Ljutic

Louise Beech

Laura Shumaker

Ann Campanella

Mary C. M. Phillips

Chynna Tamara Laird

Deb Wuethrich

Elizabeth Aquino

Mona Rigdon

B. J. Taylor, as told by Ron Roloff

Harriet Heydemann Cellini

Sandy Keefe

Erika Hoffman

Kathryn Lynard Soper

Sarah Yates

Ellen Tomaszewski

Lisa Peters

Rachel McClain

Ronelle Grier

Pam Bostwick

Wendy Hill Williams

Christa B. Allan

Vivian Joy Phillips

Donna Karis

Linda S. Clare

Caren Hathaway Caldwell

Leesa Gehman

Debbie Roppolo

Laura Shumaker

Gerry Di Gesu

D. C. Hall

Faith Paulsen

Ritz Imuta

Debbi Wise

Nicole Derosier

Monica A. Andermann

Kris Cambra

Acknowledgments

My deepest appreciation goes to my aunt and uncle, Junella and Dennis Sell, for inspiring me with their living example of how to lovingly and effectively parent all children and especially children with special needs.

As always, my thanks go to the top-notch team at Adams Media, particularly Meredith OHayre, the Cupof Comfort champion; Paula Munier, the Cup of Comfort creator; the books copyeditor, Barbara Beaudoin; the books designer, Ashley Vierra; publicist Jacquinn Williams; and publisher Karen Cooper. Working with such personable and professional people to create such meaningful books is an honor and a joy.

I am most grateful to the authors whose personal stories grace these pages and to you, dear readers, for allowing us to share these very special stories with you.

Introduction

I think these difficult times have helped me tounderstand better than before how infinitely richand beautiful life is in every way and that so manythings that one goes around worrying about are ofno importance whatsoever.

Isak Dinesen

I am no stranger to adversity. It has been a persistent companion throughout much of my life. But for a long time, when people would comment on my strength in dealing with whatever hardship or misfortune had come my way, Id say, Feh! Its just life. I can handle it, and eventually, Ill get over it. What I couldnt handle, though, is something happening to one of my kids.

Usually, I would then go on to tell about my Aunt Junella and Uncle Denny, how they have faced what I was certain I could notagain and again. A daughter with Down syndrome and heart defects, their firstborn, who went to heaven before her first birthday. A beautiful, brilliant, healthy daughter. A sweet, lovable son with cerebral palsy, an enlarged heart, and severe mental retardation, everyones Buddy, who went home to Jesus in his late twenties. A handsome, healthy, gregarious son. A stillborn. A handsome, healthy, precocious son felled at age nineteen with a traumatic brain injury that left him a triplegic with minimal use of one hand and a host of cognitive, neurobiological, and health issues. Unfathomable hardship and heartache. And still, they carried on. Still, they found joy in life. Still, no matter how much life has taken from them and out of them, they gave of themselves, tirelessly and graciously, not only to their children but also to others. And still do.

Aunt Nellie and Uncle Denny are like second parents to me, and my family spent a lot of time with their family when I was growing up. I loved going to their house and playing with my cousins, listening to my uncles jokes and stories, and hearing my aunts gentle voice and infectious giggle. I loved singing along with Buddy and getting one of his big hugs. Hugs and laughter were plentiful in my aunt and uncles home. Although there was plenty of cause for sorrow, tears were few. Patience and prayers were abundant. It was one of the few places where I felt truly accepted, safe, and loved.

It was there that I learned to feel compassion for those less fortunate and to embrace people whose mental and physical abilities are different from the norm.

My aunt and uncles life story has given me the insight and the inspiration to be a better parent and a better human being. It has helped me to better handle and provide for my childrens special needs. And it has enabled me to better appreciate the things that really matterthe infinite riches and beauty of life.