Carey Family

Pay It Forward

Aaron’s 1st birthday

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Today I would like to “Pay it Forward” to my friend, Rebekah, who is a heroine to me.  She has 9 children and her last has Trisomy 18 and was not expected to live long.  I’ve visited her at Primary Children’s Medical Center during long hospital stays and brought her and Aaron home from one, so in a tiny way, I’ve been involved in his life.  We’ve prayed for him and for their family over the last year and I’ve worried about her getting enough sleep and taking care of herself so she can do her mom job.  Through it all, she has been a great mom to her other children and become a fount of knowledge about Aaron and his condition.  She has helped other Trisomy parents with her encouragement and enthusiasm.  She wrote about his upcoming birthday on her blog, and last night Scott and I were able to join the celebration.  It was wonderful to see family, friends, and caregivers gather to celebrate this huge milestone.  There was even a Deseret News reporter on hand and they appear in the paper today.  It started raining during the evening and at the appointed time, William stood up to bring us together and say a few words.  People were huddled under canopies and umbrellas but just as he started to thank everyone, the rain stopped and a ray of sun shot through to light him up.  He read a poem and we released balloons in honor of Aaron’s birthday and also all his little friends who didn’t make it to one year.  It was very touching.  Congratulations, Aaron!

Utah Women and Education Project

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I was asked to be involved with this project in a small way and one of the outcomes of the research and summit were three videos that are hot off the press and now available for distribution.  They detail the drop in college attendance and graduation rates by Utah women and explain some of the benefits of college.  You can read more about the project here.  I was interviewed for the videos last February and my wisdom was edited down to a couple of brief snippets, but you can see me in the following videos.

Making College a Priority at 2:10, 7:18, and 8:00.

Pieces of the Puzzle at 1:06.

I don’t appear in In Their Own Words, but it’s great and you should watch it, too!

 

Please make an effort to encourage the young women in your sphere of influence to attend and graduate from college, because research shows that your example and encouragement are one of the main elements that help women to stay the course.  And a big shout-out to two of favorite women who are going to college this fall:  Leslie, who will be doing a post-baccalaureate program for teacher licensure, and Holly, who will be starting a baccalaureate program from scratch.  Both of these women have grown children and it takes a lot of courage to do what they’re doing, but I know they’ll reap big rewards of personal fulfillment!

Thanks to great teachers!

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I read this awesome post by Ali Edwards about her experience at a school conference for her autistic son.  She looked around the table at all the great people who work together to make her son feel successful and was so very grateful for their dedication and hard work.  My sons have left public education and are wending their way through higher ed now but I think back to all the great K-12 teachers they had in Florida and Utah who helped them on their way.  Teachers who work hard, go the extra mile and really care about students.

Thanks!