| I am a wife, a daughter, a sister, and mother to 3 sons. I’ve also been a mailman, a waitress at a German pancake house, a librarian, and secretary of the Cow Belles.
More recently, I am a homeschooler, a writer and an advocate for children with disabilities. I’m the author of Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son’s First Two Year’s with Down Syndrome, a book that provides practical insight and emotional support to parents of children with special needs. I’m also the editor of My Heart’s First Steps: Writings That Celebrate the Gifts of Parenthood and I’ve contributed to anthologies such as The Maternal is Political, How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel, Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Have Enriched Their Lives, Woven on the Wind and Crazy Woman Creek, and my essays have appeared in Babytalk, Child, Parents, Parenting, Mothering, and Midwifery Today. I live and write at the end of a twisty gravel road in the mountains of northwest Montana with my husband Tom (who is also a writer ) and our 3 boys. There are words scribbled beneath the paint on the walls, things like "books" and "happiness" and "love." They were my wishes for our family while I was pregnant with twins; it took me a while to realize they'd all come true. |
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| Nicole Tavenner Photo |