The Season of Wonder

The one good thing about becoming an old hag is that I can look back and see all the events and themes that have come full circle in my life. You don't see this when you're twenty or even thirty, you're too close, but around the forty year mark, it's obvious that our lives are concentric circles that only feel like random zig-zags.

I was crushed when my daughter ended up having some developmental delays requiring expensive treatments.

I was frustrated when the economy tanked taking my home's value with it, and trapping us in a less-than-ideal school district.


When doors close, windows do really open. Sometimes, anyway.

I found out today that my daughter should qualify for a grant that will allow her to attend amazing private schools in our area. I'm talking ten kids in kindy with two teachers kind of amazing. They offer a fully funded curriculum with art, music and PE, none of this cutting programs bullshit that goes on in our school district.

This didn't just happen. I had to pay attention. I had to be on the ball. I had to seek out resources above and beyond what most families in our situation access. It pays to over-function. Sometimes, anyway. Plus now I'm networked with families of kids like mine and have been able to pass on my learning curve. Serendipitously, it was one of their learning curves that helped me with this latest breakthrough.

If you live long enough and open your eyes wide, you'll see that serendipity is always spinning through your life, but its time line is much longer than our attention spans and we only ever spot it in hindsight.

Being sick for so long has had its upside too. I can't really blog about it though, it's not for public consumption. Plus, I would still have preferred to be healthy, but at least being sick wasn't a total waste. It ended up serving a higher purpose that I didn't see coming at the time.