Echo of Hope

When I first started writing Ari’s blog, the primary reason was exhaustion. I was on the phone until 1 a.m. giving updates several days in a row. It was too much. So I started to write.

People asked if it was therapeutic as well. Sorta maybe, but during a crisis it’s more war chronicling than journaling. “We’re in the foxhole. They’re shooting at us.” Soothing? No so much.

As I’ve noted in the past, the blog eventually gave Ari a voice. That’s when it became more for me than a convenient excuse way to avoid people give updates. And this was before Ari’s voice really came alive when he started posting his own updates.

Here on Echo of Hope, Ari has:
– Been a spy on a secret mission
– Won the World Wrestling Federation heavyweight championship
– Been interviewed by Time Magazine
– Starred as a special guest on Who’s Line is it Anyway?
– Delivered the commencement address at Harvard Medical School
– Reviewed Erica and me as parents

And more.

As of this moment, however, Ari will write no more posts.

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***Note: It’s Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. Please like and share with reckless abandon! It’s more important than ever right now. Keep reading to find out why.***

A little while back I saw an old friend post on Facebook, “I’ve changed my last diaper!” The youngest of his three girls had finally gotten the hang of the potty.

For him, gone were the thousand-wipe-a-day, 5 outfit switching, blow-out riddled trips to the mall. Gone were the days of spoon feeding stage 1 purees to the bib, the floor, his sweaters…pretty much to everything but the kid’s elusive pie hole. And, gone were the days of complete reliance on parents for dressing, eating, getting up and down the stairs, and the seemingly endless changing of the attached-with-stickies personalized disposable bum-hugging potties.

Seemingly endless, until, you know, it ended.

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