Me with my Sweet Man at his graduation
So, Hi, I'm Marybeth.
After having such amazing and influential grandparents and parents (you will hear tons about them too, they have dedicated their lives to helping so many as well) I guess my future was set. I decided to pursue a career as a special education teacher. All my life I was surrounded by these incredible individuals. I loved playing with them, teaching them and learning from them. The most influential of them being my sister Caitlin. Our family has been so blessed by Catie. You will probably be hearing about Catie a lot. She is smart, funny, flirtatious (incredibly flirtatious), clever, witty, artistic, talented, playful, bright, friendly, faithful- I could just go on forever. She has just made such a huge inpact on my life. I feel so blessed to have such an incredible sister as my own. I think about her daily and can't imagine how boring life would be without her. Catie was born with down syndrome about 18 months before I was born. I always say that I was born to take care of her physically and she was born to take care of me spiritually. She is incredible as you will see in posts to come. I wanted a classroom full of students like Catie, I was lucky enough that sometimes she would let me play school with her. Oh how I loved it!!So I graduated with a bachelors in special education and taught for 5 full years. It was amazing. I learned so much and had so much fun. I loved trying to figure out how to help each individual student. I loved creating resources and making things that could help them become more independent and begtter equipped to enter the world. I am currently on my second year (recently moved to part time so I could be home with my new baby!!) as the behavior specialist for a school district-having begun a masters degree in Applied Behavior Analysis. Although I miss teaching beyond imagination I have been able to do some wonderful things and reach a larger number of students. I have consulted to teachers, parents and caretakers on how to handle difficult behaviors and how to accomodate individuals with disabilities. I have been asked to do inservices, trainings, given speeches and presentations. I have been taught so much by such amazing teachers, students and parents. It is remarkable what people do for eachother and the knowledge and dedication that they have. I haved loved every second of what I have done and I as I get close to a hiatus in my career as I become a full time stay at home Mom I wanted to create a bridge that allows me to continue to help and carry on the legacy of my grandparents in helping others. So thats enough about me for now, but hopefully we can learn from eachother as we celebrate amazing people, with amazing stories and open up doors.
Oh yay! I can't wait to read this. I loveee Catie too. Definitely miss her.
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