16 January 2010

my twin

we first met when I moved back to the city. c-town grocery store. early afternoon. navigating through the narrow and crowded aisles with a stroller is no easy task. WIDE LOAD. we kept running into each other -- literally. then we saw one another at the corner bodega. she bought some beautiful roses. I bought some cheap-ass mums.
"nice to see you... again. I'm now off to starbucks."

"me too!"
"you're daughter is beautiful."
"thanks!" I recognized The Stare. the wheels turning in her head. I then have to explain.
"my husband is korean."
"mine TOO!"
her little boy was sound asleep but once I got a better look at him, oh yeah... blondie didn't look at all like her son. we both had little asian babies in our strollers.
we got our coffees and chatted. she lived 2 blocks away from me.
"we moved back to new york because of b's super-fellowship at hospital."
"my husband is a physician TOO!"
"ginny is our miracle baby." I went into my long-winded and much rehearsed speech on IF and IVF.
"I went to cornell TOO!"
of course you DID! you're my twin!

j has since left our fair city. she actually moved to where I just moved from. we've stayed in touch and she always calls for a play date when back in the city. my twin. I miss her so, but no doubt our paths will cross again.

06 January 2010

speech therapy - chapter 1

good grief. (my new 'b approved' swear that I can use around ginny.) the saga begins. it was a cold and windy day on the upper east side...

after numerous phone calls, wrong numbers, unreturned messages, and a HUGE dose of frustration, I finally made contact with a human. go figure. there's nobody to talk to about your child's lack of speech.

I live in manhattan. new york city. EI (early intervention services) are paid for by the city. FINALLY my tax dollars at work. they hardly plow my street when it snows but it's their mission to have my child speaking in no time. hopefully. once I got through all the referral bullshit I met with our coordinator. and she came to me -- MY home! I scanned a list of 93 contracted evaluators and randomly chose one. seriously. how can one tell the difference between First.Step and City.Pro Group and Metro.Therapy and Right.Start Inc? close your eyes, point and hope for the best.

and then it happened. the question we've all been dreading. "so... what is ginny?" white? asian? what do you think? hmmmmm. we left that particular box blank. good fucking grief. so after even more questions, additional paperwork and 283 signatures we are all set for our official evaluation. hopefully, next week.

01 January 2010