In my best Rafiki voice: “It is time.”

Time to talk about Taylor and what she has meant to us over the years. I have been putting it off, but our focus is shifting to surgery mode, so I want to write something before we get into all that craziness.

A bit ago, we said “see ya later” to Ms. Tay. It was tough. I’m not a hugger; she got like three hugs from me. I’m not a crier; I held it together during our last appointment, but I cried after we left. Rumor has it she did too!

Why all the emotions? If you have been following along with Harrison’s journey, you already know. We haven’t been shy about how amazing she is and how instrumental she has been in Harrison’s life. She has been one of his biggest cheerleaders and has helped him crush every PT goal we, his parents, thought were outlandish. But more than anything, Taylor gave us hope.

Hope can be a scary thing when parenting a child with a disability. All those dreams we had while I was pregnant came crashing down the day Harrison was born, and we received his first diagnosis. But then you have these amazing people who come into your life and restore that hope. From a little baby that could barely move his body to a punky four-year-old racing her barefoot, Taylor believed he could do things that we never imagined possible.

Taylor would toss out a new skill we should work on, I would laugh and tell her she was crazy, and Michael would curse her (in a friendly, endearing way) after Harrison crushed the goal. And he always did. His progress was slow but steady with LOTS of bagel breaks. So much so that Tay and I became his bagel crew. (Peep our matching shirts in the photos!!) One to dole out the bagels while the other helped him learn new skills. We were quite the team! 

PT Taylor is amazing, but I also got the chance to know just Taylor over the last four and a half years. Harrison works best if he thinks you aren’t paying attention, so we got 1-2 hours a week to just talk about everything under the sun. We had our weekly gab fest about the newest episode of Bake Off, excitedly talked about the book we were both reading, or our future travel plans. It really is uncanny how many things we have in common. And one of my favorite parts of these last few years was getting to watch her become an aunt not once but twice. Being an aunt has always been such a huge part of who I am, so I loved getting to experience that through her! 

With his next surgery coming up and her moving on, it truly feels like a huge chapter of Harrison’s story is closing. Actually, it’s the first book in the series. (Had to get a book pun in since Tay & I have spent our fair share of time talking about books!) And honestly, we (fine…me) are wildly jealous of all the parents who get to have her as their kid’s PT because if you didn’t pick up on it by now, she is absolutely amazing! We miss our weekly visits and all the Taylor & Greeney snuggles, but that just means we get to plan trips to visit our friend Tay. And that feels like its own kind of gift.

Thanks for always being the best Taylor! We miss you and can’t wait to see you again! 💚