Reegan was born a micro preemie at 24 weeks, 1 pound 8 ounce, when I had a rare pregnancy complication called the HELLP syndrome. The only way to stop my organs from shutting down was for her to be born.

Reegan suffered many medical emergencies and surgeries and had several near death experiences in the five months in the NICU. And we saw many miracles.

With a brain injury, the doctors can never give you any real idea of what the outcome might be or what the future might look like.

Becoming a special needs parent is kind of like planning a trip to a tropical location. You’re all packed for beaches and warm weather. You have your hotel and itinerary planned and then you are suddenly dropped off in a different location, a place that is cold and you have no clothes or items for that climate. You have no idea where anything is. You didn’t plan for this at all. I felt like this when we came home from the NICU. And that is when I met Amy and Renee, our first therapists.

It felt like meeting a resident of this new location and being offered a hand and them telling you, “Here, I’ll show you how this world works.”

I became a board member and helped open the Dreamplex in 2015. Reegan attended the first classes—music, tumbling, dance, ballet—all things I never thought I would ever have the opportunity to see my child do. The Dreamplex quickly became our daily life. Therapies and activities. Reegan began to recognize pulling into the Dreamplex lot and I would always say, “We’re at your place, Reegan, the place where everyone knows you,” and it kind of reminded me of that TV show Cheers—“Where everyone knows her name.”

A sad truth of being a special needs parent is that you lose some friends. When your child can’t do what other kids can do, when it’s too hard to do, and after turning down invites, you eventually stop being asked to come. But you make new friends and almost all of our new friends are other parents with special needs kids.

You become part of a club that you never really wanted to be in, but once you are in, you realize you’re meeting some of the most amazing people you’ve ever encountered. The strongest people, the most empathetic people. Your special needs parents will cheer and celebrate as hard as you do when your child hits a milestone, even when they should have hit years ago.

When it came time for school age, once again, the Dreamplex came to the rescue. Some kids are just in between and finding the right fit was challenging. We even looked around and considered moving away. Instead, Amy and Cameron said, “We can do this,” and a small group of eight kids and families started a school that has now grown tremendously. She is able to get therapies during the day so we can be a “normal family” at night and enjoy activities and fun things.

Reegan had a surgery, one we thought would make her walk better. Her hips were almost completely dislocated and the socket worn away, but after surgery, she had an unforeseen complication and we went back to square one. She is still rehabbing three years later. She had to learn to crawl again. I am not exaggerating when I say that for six weeks I did not have to worry about food or cooking at all. People from the Dreamplex community that I didn’t even know were bringing us food. It was incredible. I was able to 100% focus on Reegan and taking care of her spica cast, her body cast. The Dreamplex community really stepped up and took care of us.

Every parent of a special needs child has heard the saying, “God gives special needs kids to special people.” That’s not true at all. God gives special needs kids to normal people, imperfect people. But the miracles you witness, the strength you see from these kids, and the incredible people that you meet in the special needs community—that changes you. That makes your heart change, your gratitude for everyday things grow.