Grassroots Gatherings for Peace, Prosperity, & Possibility
Parent 2 Parent - A Lesson in Love
My weekend was destined for LOVE. I was in Austin to officiate in the wedding of a close friend, and LOVE was on my mind. What does it really mean to love someone? What do we really get out of making lifelong commitments to each other?
The answer awaited me in the lobby of my hotel. It was the annual conference for the Texas Parent2Parent network, an organization that provided support and resources for parents of children with disabilities.
It was like walking into a different world. Out mingling in the lobby, crowds of parents, all toting at least one child with a severe disability. I saw babies strapped into medically equipped, high-tech strollers. A beautiful ten-year-old blind girl navigated the busy hallways with a dignity that took my breath away. A young girl pushing her thirteen year-old sister in a wheelchair adorned with pink butterflies. Through the cerebral palsy, I heard her gleeful anticipation of the joy she would find at the end of our elevator ride as she sang “Da-Da” for eight floors. Her mother beamed and smiled. “She’s a Daddy’s girl!”
I retreated to my hotel room and broke down in tears. They were not tears of sadness or empathy. I was simply overwhelmed by the tsunami of LOVE that washed through that hotel lobby. It was as if these beautiful children had brought forth something in their able-bodied counterparts that transcends description.
I was swimming in the majesty of pure LOVE. It was almost more than I could take…
The theme this week for The What If Up Club is service. I have no doubt that each of the children I met was in some way fulfilling a higher purpose of awakening others to open their hearts and experience the presence of pure love. I have no doubt that every parent in attendance was committed to doing whatever their child needed to live a happy and fulfilling life. Parents were reaching out to each other. Even the therapy dogs wagged their tag with a sense of purpose.
Why do we serve? Because LOVE is who we are. And when we call each other out to remember who we are, perhaps the only logical response is to express it.
The answer awaited me in the lobby of my hotel. It was the annual conference for the Texas Parent2Parent network, an organization that provided support and resources for parents of children with disabilities.
It was like walking into a different world. Out mingling in the lobby, crowds of parents, all toting at least one child with a severe disability. I saw babies strapped into medically equipped, high-tech strollers. A beautiful ten-year-old blind girl navigated the busy hallways with a dignity that took my breath away. A young girl pushing her thirteen year-old sister in a wheelchair adorned with pink butterflies. Through the cerebral palsy, I heard her gleeful anticipation of the joy she would find at the end of our elevator ride as she sang “Da-Da” for eight floors. Her mother beamed and smiled. “She’s a Daddy’s girl!”
I retreated to my hotel room and broke down in tears. They were not tears of sadness or empathy. I was simply overwhelmed by the tsunami of LOVE that washed through that hotel lobby. It was as if these beautiful children had brought forth something in their able-bodied counterparts that transcends description.
I was swimming in the majesty of pure LOVE. It was almost more than I could take…
The theme this week for The What If Up Club is service. I have no doubt that each of the children I met was in some way fulfilling a higher purpose of awakening others to open their hearts and experience the presence of pure love. I have no doubt that every parent in attendance was committed to doing whatever their child needed to live a happy and fulfilling life. Parents were reaching out to each other. Even the therapy dogs wagged their tag with a sense of purpose.
Why do we serve? Because LOVE is who we are. And when we call each other out to remember who we are, perhaps the only logical response is to express it.
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