Expecting Adam

I just finished the book Expecting Adam by Martha Beck, which was loaned to me by the amazing Annie H., and I loooooooved it. Therefore I would like to document some of my favorite quotes and sentiments.



"What they did not realize is that they themselves were the ones who would be 'born', infants in a new world where magic is commonplace, Harvard professors are the slow learners, and retarded babies are the master teachers."
This is basically what the book is about: how her son with down syndrome taught her things that she never could have learned in her PhD program at Harvard. Love it.

"You'll never be hurt as much by being open as you have been hurt by remaining closed."
Truth. I don't feel like I struggle in being open with anyone and everyone, except when it comes to the thoughts, feelings, or ideas that portray my absolute weakness. Call me prideful, I will agree with you. I struggle with being portrayed as weak, I think because of things that happened during my childhood that required me to be the strong one in my family when everyone else fell apart. So, I don't like crying and rarely do it, I don't like asking for help, and it is not a good thing, which I why I LOVED this quote. I hope that as I accept this weakness, of trying not to be weak, that I can let myself just fall to pieces every once and awhile and that I can let someone help me pick up those pieces.

"The real magic doesn't come from achieving the perfect appearance, from being Cinderella at the ball with both glass slippers and a killer hairstyle. The real magic is in the pumpkin, in the mice, in the moonlight; not beyond ordinary life, but within it."

"This is the part of us that makes our brief, improbable little lives worth living: the ability to reach through our own isolation and find strength, and comfort, and warmth for and in each other. This is what human beings do. This is what we live for, the way horses live to run."

"Whoever said that love is blind was dead wrong. Love is the only thing on this earth that lets us see each other with the remotest accuracy."
In another part of the book she talks about how she did a mini experiment and tried for one day to look at her classmates without any preconceptions and without trying to label them. She said that this only lasted for a few moments because she couldn't stopped her eyes from filling with tears as she looked at each classmate. She goes on to say that, "if we saw people as they really are, the beauty would overwhelm us."


What a great book! This is why I love reading, because it gives me the opportunity to be introspective, no matter what kind of book it is, I get to put myself unfamiliar situations and analyze my own internal reactions and beliefs. This one gave me the chance to really think about what I would do if I had a child with a disability. How would I react? How would my plans change? What things might I be taught? I don't know what kind of children Heavenly Father will send me in the future, but I can say that this book made me excited to meet them, regardless of what challenges they will face, I know that they will be my greatest teachers.

Thanks Annie for the good read. What shall I read next? :) Anything to keep me distracted from my textbooks!