The flip-flops

Back from seeing "The Greatest" with Sarandon and Brosnan, a movie that tugs at your heart taking a huge chunk with it.

Graduations come all too seen at the UCLA early intervention programme, falling when the child turns 3 and is thus transferred to the school district. This was Miss M's big day and the room was full of her 8 brothers and sisters, her father, a Rabbi and her mother, drenched in tears from the significance of her daughter's first graduation. How extraordinary to see such a large family, all present, all loving on the youngest whose life is peppered with medical intervention and hospitalizations. One such admission has kept her away from school for 2 months and to see her today lifted my heart. I say the mother's eyes were full of tears, her mascara running and strangely juxtaposed with how immaculately she is always turned out; actually, there was barely a dry eye in the house.

Reuben's graduation will at the end of this month and I know I'll be crying again, bittersweet tears for what he's leaving behind, and then that paves the way for Callum turning 18m and attending Reuben's school as a typical peer role model. I fear for the unknown of what lays ahead in the broader world that lies outside the safe sanctuary of UCLA. We are warmed and comforted, cosseted within this programme, of that we're all very much much aware. When every child has a disability, we're all in the same boat together. That, please God, Reuben's trach will be out before he's 3 and before he leaves school will be a beautiful blessing.

From school, we hopped down the freeway for Reuben's school assessments by the LA school district. In our lives, we have many such assessments, this time by physical, occupational, speech, adaptive PE therapists and 2 deaf teachers, each sitting round a table or interacting with Reuben, studying from different perspectives, with the result that they were left charmed by Reuben and thankfully certain that he'll need continued help in all these areas when he goes to big pre-school.

I realise this has nothing to do with flip-flops of course and that in itself is my flip-flopping train of thought. Callum was unable to keep them in place despite the little added elastic at the back. Ah well, like in everything, we'll keep trying.