A New Perspective from an Episode of Desperate Housewives

A strange title I know. A strange happening really. I realize I am one of the few people who actually still watches Desperate Housewives. What can I say? However, I am so glad that I do. And here's why...

I was not a huge fan of this week's episode. It was a follow up to the fall closer where a place crashed on Wisteria Lane. It was one of those shows were characters look back, or look forward and wonder what might have been or what could be. No real forward progress in the storyline was made. I usually hate that.

However, one character's thoughts hit close to home for me. Lynette is pregnant on the show and was injured during the crash. One of the two babies she was carrying was injured too. She was wheeled off to surgery and the show drifted to her thoughts of what might happen with the injured baby. She dreamed that he was born physically disabled. Tears streamed down my face as the baby underwent painful physical therapy, as Lynette argued with her husband over whether or not she could handle raising the child, as Lynette argued with the boy as a tween and forced him to do things for himself, and finally as the boy gave a speech to his class at his law school graduation.

Here's what really hit home. The boy said:

"My mother was scared. Scared of my disability. My limitations. I know this because she told me. Then she realized what she was really scared of was my potential. And that she's miss something that would help me reach it."

Wow.

And so true. Like all of the other mothers in this world who are raising a child with a disability, I too am scared. But the words he spoke were correct. I'm not scared of Brian's hearing loss. I am terrified that I will do something wrong and he will miss out on reaching his full potential. And it will be my fault.

It feels so good to know that truth. And it makes me feel a whole lot less guilty for being so scared.

It also makes me realize that I have to just keep doing what I am doing. Reevaluating. Observing. Working with Brian. Seeing specialists. Trusting the doctors. And most of all, trusting me. My instincts and my gut feelings. And, of course, loving the precious little boy God gave me. He has an amazing amount of potential. And I'm so lucky that I've been blessed with the support and resources to help him reach it.