Dear Emmy

Katy Manni is a mother of four children and married to our Associate Minister, Pete Manni. She recently started writing her own blog, Dear Emmy, to express her personal experiences of being a mother of a special needs child. As a result, Katy has connected with many moms dealing with the same struggles and anxieties and Katy (and Emmy) have been an encouragement to so many.

The Manni’s are on a journey with their youngest daughter Emmy that is unchartered territory but God is providing each step of the way. Emmy has Williams Syndrome-  a genetic condition that is present at birth and can affect anyone. It is characterized by medical problems, including cardiovascular disease, developmental delays, and learning disabilities.  These often occur side by side with striking verbal abilities, highly social personalities and an affinity for music. Katy is sharing with us a blog post she wrote last summer that helps us find reasons for joy in the small things of life.

Dear Emmy,

Posted On June 25, 2016

Summer is here again and the warm sun mornings on the porch and flip flop afternoons are making Mama remember again to be thankful for the little, little things. Sweet peaches by the bowlful remind me of my Grandpa’s house and the orchard next door. The way we ran around his giant yard like we owned it and made homemade black raspberry ice cream on his porch. We poured salt into the ancient churn and watched it spin, Grandma pouring the sweet puree into the cream and it barely swirled together before we helped ourselves. I always remember the levity of it-my memories perfection, filled with the laughing and the tired legs and skin tanned exhaustion of a good Summer’s day spent with cousins.

And even though life has taken its turns since our days at his house, I still find new reasons for joy…

Like your dark tan legs, growing taller and faster taking great big steps up the school bus stairs. The way you hold my chin and say with such sincerity, “I love you so much” and then ask me for “ice cream cones with sprinkles please”. Your left arm swing that’s part of your swagger now and the way you still sleep flat on your belly, your dark curls across your cheeks. The way people smile when you ask “What’s your name?” with your little head tilted to the side and how you say you’re 10 when they ask your age.

The sticky salt air at the ocean where your siblings played and the way you let me hold you on the beach chair because your feet didn’t like the sand, your head tucked in my neck as we watched the waves go in and out, you warm on my chest. That you’re still little for a little while longer…these are the whispers of God to me in our chaotic world.

Emmy, I wish you all the great joys of childhood. I hope for silliness on summer afternoons and the “good tired” sleep that comes after days by the shore. I pray for barefoot belly laughs on summer grass at night and ornery adventures that grow your independence. I want you to live the rose colored memories too, black raspberry ice cream and all. And someday when you’re big, you’ll hold those memories close even though life has changed…but hopefully they will teach you to keep the little things near to you, collecting them one by one, thanking God for them as He speaks quietly into your life the hope of heaven yet to come.

Love,

Mama