Good-bye, Ms. Laura...

A few weeks ago (July 18th to be exact), our amazing speech therapist, Laura (I've posted about her here and here), told me that she was leaving the company that she currently worked for to go to a different job, and was no longer going to do Early Intervention.  Let's just say that I didn't take the news so well.  I fought off the urge to punch the wall (only because my children were present) and I fought off the tears until I was alone with the Chili Dawg.  Those of you who have never had a child that required services probably don't understand why I had such strong emotions.  These therapists are MORE than therapists.  They become like family members.  So when they leave, it puts a hole in your heart.  When I was done crying into the Chili Dawg (and on the phone to my mom- thanks mom, by the way), I pulled out my journal to get the "crazy" out.  Oh yeah, I don't post all the crazy on here, you should see my journal. 

Today, is our last session with Laura, so I thought I would post a little bit of what I wrote in my journal so that everyone could see just how special this person is to our family.

Dear Laura,
The day that Peggy told us that she was leaving the company and could no longer be Juliana's speech therapist, I was devastated.  I called my mom crying.  You see, she was our second speech therapist- the first one lated only 2 sessions and then said we stopped services.  As you know, Peggy had helped Juliana a lot and she meant a lot to our family.  Her leaving was hard for us, and so I was bound and determined NOT to let myself get attached to you.  But darn you!  You are just so likeable!  There's something about you that is just so special.  I knew it right awaay, and I knew we were in trouble, because I knew if you ever left the company while Juliana was still in EI, we were going to be devastated again.  And I was right.

Today when you told me you had resigned, a part of me already knew it was coming.  I had a "feeling" for a while.  But I still wanted to punch the wall & I came very close to doing it- so it's good that Noah and Juli were in the room.  Again I found myself on the phone crying to my mom while I had the Chili Dawg draped across me (I told you he's good therapy).

The thing about you darn therapists is that you become like family to us.  Sometimes I text you more than some family members!  you guys are special and whether you know it or not, you make an impact on our lives.  So thank you.  Thank you for everything you have done for my daughter, for my family, for me.  Thank you for standing up to Dr. Fishbein and writing letters for all of our doctor visits.  Thank you for checking up on Juliana when she was in the hospital in October and when she had that "seizure" in March. We won't forget you.

We love you, Laura.  Thank you for blessing our lives!