ADA and My Marriage Both Turn 21

I wrote about the 21st anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act yesterday on my About.com site, and it totally didn't occur to me until this morning that something else important (to me, at least) happened in July of 1990: I got married. My marriage is 19 days older than the ADA. That seems impossible, that people with disabilities did not have those rights at the time my husband and I walked down the aisle. It doesn't feel like I've been married that long, certainly not as long as there should have been legally spelled-out rights for people with disabilities. Either I'm a lot older than I think, or ADA's not nearly old enough. Probably both, but let's pretend it's the latter.

Be Respectful

A boy my son has known since first grade lost his father last week. His mother passed away two years before, and we have no idea what's going to become of this kid, whose disabilities are not as immediately obvious as my son's but nonetheless there. My son has clashed with this young man somewhat over the past four or five years; it sounds from the various reports I've received that this friend knows how to push my son's buttons and enjoys getting a rise out of him (my son being incapable of NOT reacting in those situations). Still, it's been heartwarming to see how genuinely sad my son was for his friend -- bringing poster board to their summer job so his coworkers could make a card, asking to say prayers and light candles, speaking in low and respectful tones whenever the subject comes up. Summer is a silly, silly time for him, and sometimes it's easy to overlook how much he's really grown up. I hope it doesn't always take something sad to see it.

Google+, anyone?

Not that I need more shiny things to distract me, but I'm giving Google+ a try. It's a little empty now, and needs to be filled up with lots of parents ready to talk about special needs and adoption. If you're on Google+ already, look me up at gplus.to/mamatude. If you need an invitation, leave a comment here with the e-mail address you want to use for Google+ and a little bit about yourself, and I'll send you one. (I'll also delete your comment, so you won't have to worry about your information being visible to anyone.)