Morgan's Wonderland

Lily with her best friend.

Last Friday I had the chance to take Lily and Lance and go with a friend to Morgan's Wonderland. I have wanted to go there since it opened last year, and on Friday everyone got in for $5, so it was the perfect time to go. Morgan's Wonderland is the first park of it's kind that was designed and built with people of all abilities in mind. It was amazing! When Emily was here we knew it was being built, but it wasn't completed before she passed away. I really didn't take very good pictures, but every aspect of it was created so that individuals in wheelchairs or with other special needs can experience everything. They have swings that you can place and buckle your child in, or, for bigger kids/adults, you can actually wheel the wheelchair into place, fasten it in, and then let push the entire wheelchair so it swings! It's the same thing with the carousel. You can wheel a wheelchair into place, and then the entire spot moves up and down, just like if they were on a horse. The playgrounds were so much fun, and were all ramps. They have cars you can drive, a sensory village-basically a mini children's museum, a minature train that goes around the park, a full sized gym, and the list goes on.

When we entered the park I just started crying. I was totally caught off guard by the emotions that hit. It was just amazing to me that one man's vision created this park, and that children and adults like Emily could go and enjoy it side by side with their families. What a blessing! I loved seeing all of the kids and adults walking around and being pushed around in their strollers/wheelchairs. And I loved that it was just so natural. Lily and Lance absolutely loved it, too. They could have stayed all day. I'm just really grateful for people like Gordon Hartman.

I was talking with one of my friends about my last blog post, and what do you say to someone who has a child with differences/special needs other than, "What's wrong with them?" I think for me the thing I appreciated was when people didn't say anything! Not that I got offended when they asked what was wrong, because I know that's natural, but when people would say things like, "She had beautiful eyes." Or, "Tell me about Emily." Or who just treated her like she was a typically developing kid, and would talk to her and acknowledge her. Because "what's wrong?" just seems like you're focusing on the negative and not the positive, and who the person is not, or what they can't do, instead of who they are and what they can do. I guess it just puts me on the defensive. I think we can all be a bit "mother bear" about our kids! And for the most part people were great about really trying to see Emily and understand her.