Ordinary Hopes

Those who know me well know that I am not a gardener. I forget to water plants, forget to transplant seedlings and sometimes just forget that I have a garden! 😀

Back in March, Adam and I planted sunflowers, watered them and even transplanted some of the seedlings into larger pots at the right time!!! Some of them.

In May we realised that we had forgotten some of them.

The previously transplanted ones were already several times larger than the forgotten ones but we decided to give the little ones a chance.

They deserved a chance.

 

 

By August 16th the ones transplanted at the correct time were looking great, with strong stalks and huge flowers.

 

 

The forgotten ones were growing, but much more slowly, and by September 16th they were flowering! Smaller, with weaker stalks but at least flowering. The properly cared for ones are now developing sunflower seeds!

 

People and plants are not much different.

Emotional growth and strength doesn’t just happen.

A child needs to live fully in order for confidence to develop and grow. Each new experience shapes them and helps them to grow. They learn so much just by living in the wider world.

Negative experiences shape them too.

Adam is a little boy struggling to experience all that the world has to offer. We try to make things possible but they could be so much better. Every good experience holds extra worries for Adam. He feels vulnerable when out and he doesn’t feel like he matters in the world.

The recent difficult experience at Cornwall Council will not have helped. It would affect any of us. None of us really want to rely on strangers, do we? Certainly not in the bathroom!

Think about your own life.

Would you go on a long train journey if you couldn’t use a toilet along the way?

Would you go out to a theme park for a day if there were no toilets?

Would you go out for a meal to a place with no toilets?

Would you want to go out with friends if you thought you might have an accident, simply because there were no toilets?

Would your child? Growing up is hard!

A place is not truly accessible if you cannot access the toilet when you are there.

Sadly, much of life is not accessible to Adam, simply because of a lack of fully accessible toilet facilities.

It is simple if you care.

A changing bench and a hoist make it possible for life to be lived.

Otherwise, that wheelchair logo on the door might as well say ‘No Entry’.