The Journey Begins with the First Step
Hello everyone! I am excited to be re-birthing my website on my actual birthday! What a ride this has been on so many levels. I have been blessed to take this journey with Krysta, and all of you, from when she was born and I was fighting by myself to get someone to believe she was deaf, to the diagnosis, to the cochlear implant, to mainstreaming her in our neighborhood school, to graduation and marriage. The roller coaster of experiences and emotions we have had will no doubt be the subject of many future blogs. While my experience is uniquely my own, it is my sincere hope that what we, Krysta, Dean, Will, and I, have done, chosen, and learned along the way will be of help to at least one person out there walking this path after us.
I will talk about medical and educational experiences as well as family experiences. I will share not only what Krysta and I went through, but also some of what it is like to be the hearing sibling of a kid with hearing loss and cochlear implants. Theirs is a very unique situation as well that is sometimes overlooked or not fully understood.
Although my personal journey began with hearing loss, it is my mission to be of service for all families, educators, and support systems for children with any and all special needs. My hope is that through this website we can shine a light where there is darkness and provide hope when it is needed. I have had so many, many angels in my life in varying roles (both positive and negative) that I’m sure at this moment I don’t even fully understand all that I might end up sharing with you.
I have 2 wishes as I begin to share. One is that if this site is helpful in any way, you receive the benefits with the love with which it is given. The other is that if you do not agree with my personal point of view you, please be respectful that it is my journey and I understand it is not the same for everyone.
Here is a conclusion I came to quite a few years ago: The road we travel is curved for a reason. If it were straight so that we knew all that we would face along the way, we could freeze and never take another step forward.
With Love ~ Melinda