Monday, January 4, 2010

Desperate Mothers

Do you watch Desperate Housewives?   If so, did you catch last night's episode?

http://abc.go.com/watch/desperate-housewives/93513/245779/if?cid=fullepisodeaccess

In this episode, the Wives were all dreaming "What If" scenarios about their lives.  Lynette, who is pregnant and suffering from an accident that endangered the lives of the twins she is carrying, was told one of the babies may live but have developmental issues.  Lynette dreamed of her son at 14 months struggling through therapies, crying during the positioning and stretching, not meeting milestones.  Lynette broke down. She talked about all the equipment, injections, and specialists. She questioned if all the therapies sessions were worth it. She cried of fears for his future.  She cried of being drained and tired.

Wow, did that show hit home.  What a wonderful job the writers did of capturing the real fears and emotions a family with special needs face every day.  Did they peek through my window?   I cried real tears as they went on to show, Patrick- age 10, Lynette's son with the physical disabilty, struggle to make his own sandwich.  Lynette stood by and let him struggle on his own. She cried, she shook, she clenched her fingers into the counter, she suffered with him silently.  But, she knew it was best to make him to the simple task alone (enormous for Patrick!) to gain independence.

I'm glad the popular, mostly silly show gave America a glimpse into my life and the life of many "desparate mothers".  By watching this episode, I'm not sure if you can really, truly feel the pain that we feel as we watch our babies fight, but it hopefully will make people start to think.

At  the end, Patrick was standing at a podium, graduating from law school.  He spoke of the determination of his loving parents as he leaned upon his cane.   Oh what an uplifting dream....Will that be the future of my Roa?  I can only continue to hope, pray, and dream the positive "what if" dreams...

2 comments:

  1. Oh, I dont watch the show, now Im kicking myself, as you said its so great that TV execs / writers are getting our voice out there. The public need a more intimate view of what alot of parents / children struggle through in daily life. Last year on a VERY popular TV show in England, Eastenders, one of the main characters was pregnant with a baby with Down syndrome. The anguish, worry, and eventual joy was right there on the screen for all the folks to see. It was wonderful that others were educated this way, that even though our kids struggle they also bring immense joy and folks shouldnt overlook them or the struggles we go through as parents.

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  2. Jen - you are an awesome writer!!!

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