In a fit of utter madness, the Write On Mamas decided to enter the A-Z Blog Challenge once again in April. This is when you post on a different letter of the alphabet on each day of April. We managed to get 26 members of our group to post last year and are doing it again this year. As I said, complete insanity! But it was also so much fun and it really helped and to pull us together as a group, especially for those members who live further away.
In the few days leading up to April, we thought it might to nice to showcase a few of the most popular posts from last year’s Challenge. Today we are featuring Leslie Lagerstrom as a thank you is never out of date .
| For those who know me, I am sure you are surprised that I didn’t go with the ‘T’ word that has been at the center of my world for the last ten years.As a mother of a transgender child and a staunch advocate for that community, I’ll admit that was the obvious choice. But I wanted to devote my post to ‘Thanks,’ because it is a word that is never said enough, and a sentiment I find difficult to adequately convey. This would be especially true in our family’s case, as we have found ourselves on a path less traveled. A path that some days feels riddled with hurdles and landmines, but yet has allowed us to experience the absolute best of humankind.People like my son’s science and English teachers, who made their classrooms sanctuaries of safety at lunchtime when Sam was afraid to eat in the cafeteria.Parents with children like ours, who lend support when the stigma is more than we can bear…who offer advice as we traverse the public school system with a child whose mind and biology do not match…who share amusing stories that only those in our ranks can understand, proving time and again that laughter truly is the best medicine.
Family members that circle the wagons to safeguard Sam’s physical and mental well-being. Friends who use the correct pronouns without being asked. And the neighbors that always greet us with empathy instead of sympathy in their eyes. How do I possibly express the gratitude that runs so deeply through my veins for these and so many other gestures of kindness great and small? By extending heartfelt thanks over and over again, and hoping with every fiber of my being that they understand. Leslie Lagerstrom is a proud mom of two children, who is a writer and advocate. In 2011 she created the blog Transparenthood™ which chronicles her family’s experience raising a transgender child. Believing the time is now to change hearts and minds, she volunteers to speak on a national basis, most frequently appearing in front of medical and teaching professionals. |
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