THE BLOG….my happy place.
Welcome to my (Gwen Vogelzang) personal blog. Read about my experiences as a special needs adoptive parent, our family life, and the story behind publishing our first book “If I Squeeze Your Head I’m Sorry.”
So Now What?
So now what? Where from here? Work, school, church, health, justice, equity, political divide, family structures, travel….nothing is outside the realm of these unanswerable questions. This thing we refer to so broadly as “life” is a tipsy-turvy, up in the air,...
read moreOk Fellow Cooped Up Friends…What I Know For Sure
There's a messy wad of unknowns right about now. Super messy. Like yarn mixed with sticks and chicken poop and hundreds of paper scraps and socks. Those are items I find myself cleaning up inside my zone of quarantine. You? It's far too easy to focus on my racing...
read moreAsk. Listen. Repeat.
Last night, as I ate dinner, prepared by an invisible human at a lovely establishment I didn't have to clean up, a friend asked me a question. "What's the hardest part of your parenting journey?" I paused. First and foremost, I needed a sip of my smoky martini, mixed...
read moreWhen Talking to us Infertiles
I know, "infertiles" isn't a sensitive term. You're right and you can definitely NOT refer to me as such. But I can use the term on myself. Now that we have that out of the way.... I've never been pregnant. The lines on the stick have never intersected with each...
read moreA Church Home in West MI?
Its been a year since we pulled our 2nd Penske beast into our 5 acre long driveway in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Almost to the day. So much of this past year has been a blur of silky smooth transitions that really should have been more pot hole in nature. The silk is not...
read moreI Love a Good Label Maker, BUT….
Every morning my feet hit the floor, or are pulled to the floor from my early rising daughter, the world tells me, in no uncertain terms, that it's confused and torn and bleeding. Headlines are cap locked and urgent. Words like "oppression" and "white supremacy"...
read moreAll the Things I No Longer Believe In
My 93 year-old Grandma (Strong Willed Woman #1) passed away last week. Given our miraculous existence as Grand Rapids, MI residents, I was able to spend hours upon hours by her bedside as hospice took over and she journeyed through the very sweet and haunting process...
read moreThe Myth of Safety
There's this new and growing camp of parents and students. It's one of the very worst camps to belong to. 20 years ago, this camp was formed here in the US, but it remained really exclusive. Today, you could build a city around it. Our Denver community makes up a...
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And Here We Are.
As of almost 3 weeks ago, our family no longer calls Colorado our home. In a flurry of God whispers and a steady stream of spirit inspired wind, we floated our way to Grand Rapids, Michigan and we now live in a 5 acre forest in a very Colorado-inspired log cabin....
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Our Completed Puzzle: Leaving Colorado
I'm a hard core, get outta my way, doer. To a fault much of the time. I get on board with too many things too quickly, convincing myself that I'm following a path ordained by the one and only God himself. I "do" and keep "doing." Eventually, I come to understand it...
read moreWhy AM I Publishing This Book?
I recently did a quick fundraiser to provide me the funds shoot a video trailer for the launch of our book "If I Squeeze Your Head I'm Sorry." We raised over $1,000 from rock star friends and family, allowing me to get the ball rolling with a local production company....
read moreOur Mitten Move
We love us some Michigan vacations. It's the week we look forward to most each year - renting a lake house with family, digging in the sand, dodging the mosquitoes with incessant incest repellent, swimming out to the sand bar, picking blueberries, treating the a/c...
read moreWhen Consequences Don’t Work
Have you discovered what happens when consequences don't work for your child? Many basic parenting techniques reflect a consequence and rewards system for behavior. Johnny didn't get ready for school in time and played with his chickens instead of eating breakfast. ...
read moreNone of This is Tidy
Whether the misguiding was the fault of the people we trusted to lead us, or our own for not digging and researching and reading and asking, it doesn't matter. None of this is tidy. 11 years ago, when we decided to start our family through adoption, we knew nothing. ...
read moreOn the Subject of Dreaming
If you're a parent, specifically a special needs or adoptive/foster parent, do you remember what it feels like to have dreams? Not dreams for your kids. Dreams for yourself. YOU. Remember her or him? Walt Disney once said, "All our dreams can come true if we have...
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