My "Fan mail"

Friends and family make a horrible situation more tolerable. There was not a single day during my month long stay at Barnes Jewish that I did not receive flowers, cards, messages, packages of goodies, phone calls, gifts, etc! It was unbelievable to me!

My coworkers at Sensational Kids sent me cards and care packages constantly. One day, I received this HUGE box. I was actually feeling really good and I wanted to open it. I was usually so sick, my mom or whoever was staying with me, would read me the cards or tell me who the flowers or gifts were from because I was too sick to do it myself. But the day I got this Sensational Kids care package, I felt like opening it myself. Inside were cards made by all of my babies at work, pictures they had drawn for me, letters from my coworkers, a picture collage my coworkers had made, and a tote bag with some of my kids hand prints on it. I burst in to tears of joy!!! I hadn't realized how much I missed my job. I was born to be a pediatric occupational therapist. I love my kids and their families and I have the BEST coworkers in the world. I am one of the few people in this world who LOVE their job and felt like I had found my calling in life. I was a strong advocate for autism in my community and knew my purpose and calling. I remember after looking at all of my wonderful things in the care package, becoming very angry at God. How could He do this to me? I helped people, I made a difference in children's lives and their families, I loved serving the community on the Autism board....it was my passion, my calling! I remember my mom saying these exact words to me, " maybe God has a new calling for you." I did not want to here that. My professional life was dedicated to children with autism or other disabilities. And I was determined at that very moment I would continue to be a pediatric occupational therapist. But my mom was also right, now I had a second calling. I would not accept this though for many, many months.

My church family was also very supportive. They became very supportive and a very BIG help to me and my family when I got home. I will tell you all about them in future posts.