I was talking to someone last week about the Olympics.

As I had just heard that we are under 100 days away from the winter games (thank you to my daily news watching habit)

My friend and I were talking about the times it takes the athletes to do this or that and how the quest is always there to be faster and faster. Even if it is only by 0.000000000001 second.

I remember saying that won’t there ultimately be a time when we reach the absolute fastest we can go? I mean that won’t there be a time that is the least amount it takes to run a 50 yard dash. After all, it will always take a few seconds to do as it is 50 yards so won’t that sort of limit the lowest we can go?

This quest for faster and quicker made me think about how this holds true in life too!

We have a need for faster phones……

Faster internet……

Faster computers…..

But with all the faster things we have, do we all really have any time to show for it? Or do we have the time but ear mark it for other things so it seems we don’t have that extra time?

I know I seem to be in a hurry some mornings no matter what I do.

It is like we are chasing the chance to slow down.

Now enter Elizabeth.

She is my daughter with special needs. She has global dyspraxia and sensory processing disorder (SPD). Both of these disorders make life hard work for her. She has had to have all skills broken down and taught step by step, again and again.

Every skill.

Every task.

Every last one.

And as hard and winding as the journey with Elizabeth has been it has been equally amazing and wonderful. And the gifts of Elizabeth as we like to call them, are so many, so varied and so wonderful. Our children with special needs bring so many gifts to our lives.

One of the gifts of Elizabeth is that she has the ability to step over the rush of life and the chasing of time.

Not that she can’t be made to hurry if need be or that she can’t rush is we really have to ( She is usually not a fan of these things)She really has one speed and her sister, Emily, was the one to point that out.

The gift of Elizabeth related to time is that she helps us all S-L-O-W down and enjoy the moment. We could be rushing around, literally passing ourselves in the hallway and she will be looking out our front window at the sunset and tell us how pretty it is and why don’t we come over to see it.

It makes us take a pause and enjoy the pretty thing God created.

I love that she is who she is and it helps us rejoice in the gift of Elizabeth when she shows this “Stop the world” moment.

Our special needs children are so unique and so special in their gifts, so I thought at time when we are all getting ready for the holiday season to start…like runners at the starting line….maybe hearing about Elizabeth’s gifts will make stopping the busy a bit more possible.

And also remind us to enjoy the gifts our special needs children bring to us each and every day.

I wish everyone a peaceful week. Please wear a mask and get vaccinated!

Michele Gianetti author of Elizabeth Believes in Herself

I started thinking about this topic of friendship as I watched Elizabeth text one of her friends to plan an outing.

I love the excited way she looks when she does this. Just like we feel, as adults, when we are meeting a friend for coffee and long needed catch up time.

I started thinking about this whole friendship thing when I watched Elizabeth text her friend to set up a time to meet and pick up dinner. I love watching her manage her schedule and text herself ( and trust me, we have worked SO hard on both of these things!)

But what I loved the most was that she knows this person likes her for who she is.

This person wants to spend time with her.

This person has told Elizabeth that she is fun to be around.

This person is a friend.

But here is the thing and it is something we stress to Elizabeth. We tell her that you can have friends of any age. And that just because someone is older or younger or someone from work, does not mean that they cannot be a friend.

So to be honest, 2 of the people who Elizabeth calls dear friends began their relationship with her as therapists many years ago. And now, they are friends by both their admissions.

It is really pretty great.

They care about one and other, text one and other and enjoy the time they hang out together.

I don’t know about you but I have friends that vary greatly in age. I have beloved friends who are “a bit older than me” and I have ones who say that same phrase, only about ME!

Really, they just have to care about you.

And something that Elizabeth has learned in life is that friends can walk into your life, join you in a part of your life’s journey. Sometimes they walk a long, long time with you and sometimes they walk a little bit.

But that it is still all a good thing as they are still sharing their friendship with you as they walk with you.

I think sometimes for those of us with children with special needs, we fear the lonely lunch table for our kids or the birthday parties that they don’t always get invited to or ones that only one person shows up for.

And I get that. I truly, whole heartedly do. Elizabeth has special needs, specifically, SPD or Sensory Processing Disorder and Global Dyspraxia. She has had to work hard in life everyday. And the concept of friends and friendships and what it means to be a friend has had to be taught to her many times over when she was young.

So I do get it.

I guess I am just thinking that sometimes as we want so much for our special needs children to have the friends we hope they will have, we need to see that if a friend comes along in the form of a therapist or neighbor or or or….they are still a friend. And they will bring the gifts of a friendship just like any other to your child.

I rejoice in the friends Elizabeth has now and those who were part of her journey in the past.

A friend can take any shape and can arrive in a way no one expects.

I hope someone needed to read this today.

I wish everyone a peaceful week and please wear a mask. And if you haven’t already gotten one…Please get a vaccine.

Michele Gianetti author of Elizabeth Believes In Herself