Close Encounters...We are Aliens Here on Earth

Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.  Exodus 23:9

Some days I feel like I am living on a totally different planet than many of my other friends.  I'm talking about IEP's, medications, genetic testing results, chromosomal and genetic deletions...am I a scientist or a mother?

When Evie was first born and diagnosed with WAGR Syndrome, I felt like E.T. in a California suburb.  I was just hoping I'd see someone who looked familiar, someone with whom I could communicate.  

My favorite scene from E.T. is where the kids take him trick-or-treating.  E.T. spies another kid dressed up as Yoda and he starts to follow him saying, "Home!  Home!"

Our Annual Photo: My fellow WAGR Mom and Partner in Crime, Julie

After three years of feeling like an alien on foreign land, I met my "alien" family in Manassas, VA for the annual gathering of families of individuals with WAGR Syndrome.

WAGR Weekend...  It rolls off the tongue, and quenches the spirit.  As my husband had said, "We always feel like a minority, but here, in this hotel this weekend, we're the majority."

God never said we would always feel comfortable and welcomed in this world.  Actually, he suggested that if we feel comfortable, we might be on the wrong track.  However, while we may not always feel like we belong, he has not left us alone.  

God has given us families here on earth.  He has given us a chance to support one another, to gather together, to celebrate and belong.  

Our Second time to WAGR Weekend was in 2009

At WAGR Weekend I feel lighter than air.  I don't have to explain my child to anyone.  Literally, there are a handful of parents there who know Evie as well as I do, because they have already raised a child just like her.  Even the siblings feel at home, because they are seeing kids and adults just like their own brothers and sisters.  

If you haven't found a networking group, or a support group that you can join, I encourage you to do so...whatever your unique situation: cutting, depression, chronic pain, addiction, disability...the right support group can work wonders for your spirit.  

Give yourself a chance to fit in.  Give yourself a chance to be at home in this foreign world.