A vacation for yourself
After a year of work and responsibility, you deserve to carve out a week or two for a real break. Parents of disabled children—nearly all of them now—have the chance to place their sons and daughters in summer programs run by the municipality, community centers, or Fede e Luce. Yet often, exhausted and without the energy to plan anything, they spend those precious days painting the walls, organizing the house, and watching the time slip away.
Here, then, are some suggestions to help you return truly rested and renewed in spirit, ready to pick up your child and resume the daily grind.
- Make a firm decision to go somewhere other than home, somewhere devoted entirely to "rest"—what the Romans called otium, the cessation of ordinary labor.
- Choose activities you love but never have time for during the year: swimming, walks, cinema, concerts, handicrafts, photography, reading books or magazines, dinners with friends, letter-writing, knitting, crochet, embroidery…
- Stick to what you've decided. This is the hardest part, especially for mothers who cannot sit still: a phone call, a special request, and they abandon rest and dive back into work—only to complain about it for weeks afterward.
- Choose your vacation companions carefully. Of course, husband and wife cannot choose each other, but perhaps sometimes a parent might prefer a vacation alone, or with a friend, sister, or brother. Why not? You need the arrangement that will actually let you rest.
Talk it through and find the best solution.
- Banish guilt. After a few days, that nagging unease creeps in: "How can you enjoy yourself here when you're not thinking about…?" Of course I think about them. But it's vital to rebuild body and spirit to face 355 days of ordinary life ahead.
- Rediscover the joy of thinking in silence and solitude. Find moments of outer peace in these different rhythms, so you can taste silence, see your own life with fresh and hopeful eyes, pray more deeply.
A vacation for others
For those with more leisure than they need, or those without particular family demands who want to help others, here are some ideas:
- Offer your vacation home—by the sea, in the mountains, or in the hills—to a struggling family or a group of disabled friends and young people.
- Volunteer seriously and wholeheartedly at a summer program for people with disabilities (Fede e Luce camps, children's colonies…)
- Welcome a family or individual into your vacation home.
What about those who stay in the city?
- Visit regularly someone unable to get out (for lack of money, health, or time…)
- Take a child, teenager, or adult with disabilities on a weekend trip to discover somewhere new, try something they've never experienced…
- Organize a short getaway with others for a family that lacks the energy or means to leave on their own.
- Stay close (by phone, visits, various services) to someone going through a particularly difficult time…
Only after these reflections do we at Ombre e Luci feel we can sincerely wish all our readers—and especially those facing particularly difficult circumstances—happy, restful, and fruitful vacations.