• Start Here
  • About
  • Blog
  • Get In Touch
  • For My VIPs
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Marybeth Hancher

Marybeth Hancher

Happy Preschool Graduation Day, Nadia!

May 26, 2017

I wrote this post on my personal Facebook account today, and I wanted to share it with you here.  Because it’s special to me:

Today our precious Nadia had her preschool graduation. 🎉 As always, I want to share a bit of my heart. While I’m feeling a little melancholy about the whole growing-up-too-fast thing, I’m also feeling relieved that I can *finally* say I have a Kindergartener. Cause I know what it took to get to this point. For the past 3 years, Nadia’s worked day in and day out to make the progress that she’s made. Her teacher, who has been with her since day one, has invested so much into our child that we actually see her as family now. She’s been like a mentor- always giving Dana and I encouragement when we break down and admit that we feel like we’re failing miserably as parents. She’s cried WITH me and FOR me as we talk about both Nadia’s struggles and accomplishments. She’s fought some good fights alongside us as we worked together as a team to stand up for what we knew was best for Nadia. She’s sat beside me at every IEP meeting and has been like the calming presence in the room- because when I’d start to feel unheard, I could look from my peripherals and know the person beside me has heard me clearly and is on my side. And to see her today, after 3 years of hard work, finally getting to hand Nadia a little diploma as she moves on… well, that took everything in me not to burst into tears! The little girl that first showed up in her room in November of 2014, just months after getting diagnosed with autism, isn’t the same girl she’s seeing exit her classroom. She arrived her first day with Lambie and Cozy clutched in her 3.5 year old arms, unable to speak except in repeated phrases she’d picked up in tv shows and books, unable to hold eating utensils or grip pencils or drink from cups without a straw. She was unable to potty train and quite honestly, still in a “bubble” of sorts. But the girl who had a list of cannot’s now has a list of can’s. She can read & write and do all the things she couldn’t (& she no longer needs occupational therapy!), and although she still relies on using play scripts from time to time in order to learn how to talk with her peers, she speaks clearly and without prompting. There’s a night and day difference in our child, and it’s because a group of people came together and didn’t just do their job, but took a great interest in Little Miss Nadia Noelle. Her teacher, the precious and patient aides she’s had over the years, and her speech & occupational therapists have literally been a Godsend to us! How could I ever completely say thank you for giving me my child back?! I can’t. Because what they’ve done isn’t repayable. If all goes smoothly, Nadia will graduate in 2030, and I will do whatever I can to make sure Mrs. G will be taking a seat beside me as we watch our girl receive another diploma. (She joked that she’ll be so old she probably won’t be able to walk, but I said phooey on that cause I’ll wheel her butt in myself if I have to!) But no matter how these next years go, I’ll forever cherish the little diploma bear she received today- Cause it was earned by hard, diligent, teamwork by people who selflessly poured themselves into a girl (and her mama) who desperately needed some hope. May I always use them as a model and be the same for those around me. I’m so thankful that my miracle baby is continuing her life adventure as an overcomer- not that I’d expect anything less. 💖

Thank you, God for the amazing people who have touched our lives so deeply-  Like Nadia’s preschool teacher who I will now always refer to as my friend.

Go get ’em, Nadi.

XOXO

in Life Through My Lens

Reader Interactions

you may also like
Strawberry Picking
A Recap of January (2019) | Favorite Photos
Sweet Saturday
Instagram vs. Reality

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

with love
Marybeth

INFJ + Type 4, Joy-Seeker, Jesus-Follower, & Advocate for Autism. Read more in my bio! Thanks so much for joining me here!
read more

Top Hits!

  • Flip Book Fun!
  • December Daily 2017- Part 1
  • The Flow Book Review | “A Book That Takes Its Time: An Unhurried Adventure in Creative Mindfulness”

Categories

  • 365 Photo Project
  • COVID-19
  • Dearest
  • December Daily
  • Faith
  • Favorite Things
  • Film Photography
  • Life Through My Lens
  • Love
  • Marriage
  • Misc.
  • Motherhood
  • Project Life
  • Scrapbooking
  • Self Love
  • Thoughts

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Latest ‘Grams

Did I just throw the "softest birthday party ever? Did I just throw the "softest birthday party ever?" 🦄 Can confirm. 🤣I surprised Dana with a Letterkenny themed party this year along with his very own Bonnie McMurray (@kamillakowal) to serve him a Puppers. Did he love it? That's a Texas sized 10-4. 🥰 Anyone that watches that show would get all the references I plastered around the house. Allegedly.Happy 38th birthday, babe! I'm glad you enjoyed your day cause I couldn't think of a better way to celly, boys. Ferda. 😉@letterkennyproblems
Good morning from Cinder! 🥰😽 Good morning from Cinder! 🥰😽
I've recently begun taking a low dose SSRI for PMD I've recently begun taking a low dose SSRI for PMDD/depression, & while it's not necessarily everyones business to know this information... I mean, it's me. Open book. And spoiler alert: these medicines work. 🤣It's amazing how you can walk around under a dense cloud for years & not even become truly aware of it until one day the fog is debilitating. In the past month, I've finally admitted to myself & everyone around me that something was terribly wrong. I journal daily, & those old journal entries are painful for me to read. Thank God for doctors/nurses/NPs that listen closely & offer help to we that are hurting.As it says in my Cognitive Behavioral Therapy workbook, "PMDD is to PMS what major depression is to feeling 'depressed' when one's favorite team loses." 👏👏👏 All this to say, if you have PMDD, DO NOT IGNORE IT and don't let anyone dismiss it as PMS. Well meaning people who just wish to empathize and give me assurance that I'm not alone have pushed my legitimate pain and concerns aside for years, telling me it's "normal." Finally, I found a doctor that listened and diagnosed me with PMDD, moderate depression, panic disorder, & anxiety. And I've gotten help.In my haze, I've caused destruction. Said things I can't take back but things I can at least attempt to apologize for. I've ignored friends without becoming aware that I've done it. I felt alone for so long, even in conversations & even when my body was physically present with friends. But once the fog lifted I discovered something beautiful-- the people I love never left my side, even if I couldn't see them. The density of my depression blocked them from view, but now that I see the sun again, I see their faces smiling back.I made this art journaling page the day I took my first pill. I held it in my hand crying that I didn't want to need it. But once I took it, relief. I was proud of myself for calling it quits on the mind games I was playing with myself. The "just meditate." The "exercise more and you'll feel better." The thousands of dollars on alternative treatments just to avoid the stigma of a pill I swore I'd never take. But Prozac won. I won. And everyone else did, too. I'm back. ❤
I got this journal a while back, but it hasn't bee I got this journal a while back, but it hasn't been used because 1. The leather absolutely stunk to the point of triggering a migraine when I first unwrapped it (like what on earth chemicals did they soak this in?!)... and 2. I didn't care for the paper inside because I'm picky. 😉 But after a month or two of airing out the stank, I think I figured out how to use it. I was already planning on making a mini album using @maggiehdesign Garden Party collection to document this years gardening with the girls, and now I've got the perfect cover. Time to take this leather book apart and rebind it using the papers from the collection! I'll show ya when I'm done... whenever that may be. 😋 Anyways, happy Monday! Hope you all have a great start to the week! ❤#maggieholmesgardenparty #cratepaper #memorykeeping #minialbum
⋒ Eating: A Sarris chocolate covered pretzel sen ⋒ Eating: A Sarris chocolate covered pretzel sent to me by Dana's mom (one of the things I miss from Western PA)⋒ Reading: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry and loving it⋒ Smelling: Springtime air after a fresh rain⋒ Listening to: Nadia + Natasha singing together one of the sweetest songs from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood⋒ Loving: Dana and I finishing up our first Hunt A Killer series and realizing we're not only a really good team of private investigators but doing this together has given us countless hours of great conversation and the gift of fun home date nights to look forward to. Bring on the next box!Today I am happy. Very. ❤
How 'bout eggs? 🤣 #hancherholidays How 'bout eggs? 🤣#hancherholidays
Follow on Instagram
2019 © guinevere
Design by FD