Bloom

A few weeks ago I was happy I brought my KindleFire along on our day trip to Adventureland. We were driving home in the dark and sadly, I could no longer see the print in the book I was reading.  The Kindle Fire is slightly different from my previous kindle because it has backlighting like a computer screen, making it possible for me to read in a dark car.  I have so many titles lined up waiting to be read that it is difficult to know where to start, but I happily delved into Bloom by Kelle Hampton. 

The structure of this book reminds me of Dinner: A Love Story, a book I recently read on my Kindle Fire as well.  Beautiful photographs are included within this memoir as Kelle shares giving birth to and raising a daughter with Downs Syndrome.  Once I began reading I couldn't stop and I found myself poring over the photos within the book.  Kelle's daughters Lainey and Nella are both beautiful.  While Kelle was at first overwhelmed by having a child with special needs, she falls in love with her while trying to reconcile her dreams for her children with the reality she is faced with.  The sister relationship she wishes for Lainey and Nella will be different than what she had hoped for. Yet as time passes, she can see the bond that Lainey and Nella share is still strong.  Kelle's older sister comes to lend a hand as do a slew of girlfriends.  And, although no one wishes for challenges or hardships in life, Kelle's sister's advice is something I have thought about a great deal even after I finished Bloom. Although not everyone faces extreme challenges, those that do have the opportunity to grow so much and appreciate so much more - these people are the lucky ones. 

Although I've been finished reading Bloom for a few weeks now, I loved reading about this family, and am happy that I can still do so on Kelle's blog. 

Bloom is an honest, yet upbeat look at Kelle's life as a mom of a child with Down's Syndrome. I appreciated her honesty-sharing her true thoughts and feelings - such as after finding out Nella had DS, wishing she hadn't "wasted" a great name on this baby, yet still loving her and feeling guilty for even having such a thought. Other mothers will definitely relate.  And hopefully they will see that although there is no magic formula for raising a special child, it is impossible not to love them.