™This post was first published March 19, 2011 on my blog.
“Don’t miss the small things, the concert, the baseball game, the rodeo,” Jim Rohn wrote. Don’t miss out on life.
My daughter stutters. She has for most of her life. We were twice-weekly- guests of Easter Seals’ speech therapy department for nine years. Her attitude about her speaking issues was gutsy. If you didn’t have time to wait for her to get the words out, to hear what she had to say, that was your problem, your loss. That attitude I always admired. For there were many who didn’t…have the time, that is.
After several attempts over the years, of searching for a group who offered support to those who stutter, we recently found one. It was 110 miles from our home. The meeting time was 7:30 on a week night. She wanted to go. She didn’t want to go alone. So we went, my daughter, her dad and I.
We were happy we didn’t miss out on that night. It was so refreshing as a parent to listen to people engage my daughter in conversation and actually give her their full attention as they waited for her to answer. I don’t recall having ever heard my daughter talk so much in an unfamiliar group setting. There is comfort in being with people who understand.
To sit and converse with people who struggle to talk was a lesson my husband and I thought we had already learned because not only have we lived with our stuttering daughter, but my dad stutters as well. This was a whole new perspective. One I thoroughly enjoyed. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
We want to make a difference, do something big as we go through life. An admirable goal but it is often the small things that make the biggest difference.
just saying
This is lovely. I’m glad you went with your daughter and she had the opportunity to participate with that group. We have a friend who stutters and in reading your post, I just realized I don’t even notice it anymore when I talk to him.
It really was a great experience. My dad stuttered most of my life…way worse when I was young and now he doesn’t. Stuttering has no rhyme or reason.