Sarah is a parent advocate and special education advisor and is a special needs parent, too; her company is New York Special Needs Support. It was a crowded party but inevitably, I found the other special needs moms. Like heat-seeking missiles, we always make contact.
In the course of the party I told a mom about Max having a stroke at birth; empathized with another mom about the challenges of finding time for yourself; listened to a mom's story about her son, who has heart issues and who was hospitalized for two years; traded notes on NICUs and therapists; and learned about an excellent neuropsychologist in our area, David Salsberg at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitative Medicine at New York University. I am thinking it would be good to take Max to visit him, to help us better understand how he learns and what we can do to encourage him.
Also: Wine. White wine.
I left feeling relaxed, content and really glad to have met these moms and spent a Saturday night with them.
En route home, we passed by a bar I used to go to a lot when I was single. I stared at it, remembering how much fun it was to hang out there, drink beers, mingle.
It felt like another lifetime.
I've gotta say, I did not miss it.
Flickr/Sifu Renka
