It’s a cliché you often hear bandied about by cardigan-clad optimists, or written in jaunty font on Hallmark cards – ‘when life hands you lemons, make lemonade’. Meh, so trite. Recently I was thrown one of those proverbial lemons however, when my second son Remy was born at 36 weeks with Down Syndrome and an imperforate anus. (Just to clarify, Rem is a peach, and having Down’s is by no means lemon-like, but having no bum-hole is positively citric). He is now 5 weeks old, a beautiful bub with almond eyes, a strong heart, and a squelchy colostomy. His brother Yves is a reckless, parkour-loving 16-month-old with a penchant for dancing on table tops and eating dirt. Yeah, it’s been busy, but life is settling down a little after Remy’s dramatic arrival, so here I sit while my babies sleep, dodging housework and contemplating the rest of my existence. A bit heavy for a Monday afternoon, but apparently there’s lemonade to be brewed, and no time like the present, right?
| The gorgeous Remy |
Now don’t get all fidgety – this blog isn’t going to be a sob story, a violin-accompanied campaign for disability tolerance, or a tedious blow-by-blow account of my daily life. I might throw the odd family photo out there, or have a bit of a rant about the frustrations of stoma care (more about that later), but generally this is just a virtual space for me, a repository for the unvoiced detritus occupying my mind.
Besides motherhood, my interests are styling interiors, playing squash, adoring dogs, and junk shopping. I love editing and collecting other people’s unwanted stuff, and I can’t pass an op-shop or antique store without breaking a sweat (and a fingernail) rifling through their contents. I won’t be revealing my trusted sources of said bargains, rest assured! But I will post about what I find, and hopefully inspire some of you to look around your own area, and indeed your home, for pieces that could be resurrected, repurposed, and loved anew. Much more rewarding and fun than buying plastic replica crap, and better for the environment too!
Beyond petty scrounging and the odd spot of squash, the real subject I want to wrestle with in here is the question of perspective. The omnipotence of a more considered worldview has been a looming truth in my life for a long time, and through recent events this need has been thrust under my nose again. What does perspective mean for me, what might it mean for my family, and how can we best disperse some of what we learn along the way? That’s the big question in our household right now as we begin to deal with our son’s health issues and his ongoing development. We have been shown incredible care, compassion and professionalism by his medical team in these first few weeks, and as consumed as we are with caring for Remy, my partner Dan and I are also thinking hard about how we can give something back. Crisis is always a time of opportunity, and in the tumult of Remy’s arrival we have been gifted a viewpoint exceeding our previous reach, one that is taking our thoughts beyond our picket fence.
So, that’s where we’re headed…
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