Scottish Rite: Where Everyone is "Normal"

We go to Scottish Rite once or twice a year for Landree. Here, they monitor her hips for hip dysplasia, her spine to make sure she won't develop scoliosis, and her feet since they turn inward. All three of these things mentioned are not "normal," right? The majority of four year olds can walk so they weight bear which means their hips aren't displaced, and their feet develop normally so they don't need to wear AFOs (ankle foot orthotics). 

But not Landree. Things are just different for her. 

Because of this, she's typically looked upon as "not normal" and "that child with special needs." Over the years I've come to accept her condition as normal. Because it is. It is normal for Landree. I hardly think anything of it, anymore. But it does still hurt sometimes when people stare at her. Or give her that look. The look that probably only me, her mother, notices. It's the one where people just stare at her, but they have an unnatural smile on their face. You know the one...it's the one where people can't help but stare, but think if they smile at the same time, it makes it better. Ummm. No. Not really.

It's ok, though. I get it. I'm sure I did the same thing before I had a child with special needs. I'm sure I rubbed a momma the wrong way with my staring or a comment I thought was appropriate or fitting - but it probably wasn't. I have a much greater understanding of grace now. I don't fault anyone. The grace extended to us by Christ is so humbling. How can I not want to live by the same example? 

All this to say, these are some of the reasons I love Scottish Rite. Love, love, love it. In there, everyone is "normal". You can't go but a few feet without seeing another child in a wheelchair, just like Landree. Children there have prosthetics, AFOs, and other devices to help them walk or become mobile. I almost feel like I'm with family. It's because I'm sitting in waiting rooms with moms who know. They know what it's like to have to adjust to a new normal. But that's all it is to us...normal. 

I don't think it's just me, too. I think Landree feels the same sense of being at home that I do. She loves it. It's one of the only places where she doesn't cry when a doctor walks in the room. It's pretty amazing. 

Thank you for allowing me to express how much this place means to me. If you have to take your child to a place because they aren't quite typical, I think it should be a place where you feel at home and it gives you the warm fuzzies. 

Below are some pictures from our last couple of visits at SR. Her huge smiles are what I live for. And I'm thankful this place puts those smiles on her sweet face.