18/08/2025
Genuine words from a family on a journey much like ours, and like so many within our MIM Supports community. Thank you Samuels rare life for sharing this post with such honesty and for capturing the emotions that come with caring for our loved ones each day.
💙 What You Don’t See 💙
Today we walked into the hospital again (second attempt), carrying a multitude of bags, equipment and supplies. To the people watching us, turning their heads as we passed, it probably looked like we were heading off on a trip, maybe even a holiday.
But this wasn’t a holiday. This was another admission. Another battle. Another infection. This time, Samuel has been diagnosed with a Pseudomonas bug.
What people don’t see is the weight behind those bags. Inside them isn’t holiday clothes or snacks for a getaway, it’s medicine, syringes, machines, and everything needed to keep our little boy alive and fighting. What people don’t see is the exhaustion, the endless appointments, NDIS battles, and hospital visits, the worry that never really leaves.
Being a special needs parent means learning in many different ways. Learning to carry it all, the stares, the judgment, the whispers, the heavy loads, the heartbreak, the love. It’s walking into places where people look at you like you and your child are different, while inside you’re just trying to hold it together and shield your child from everything.
It also means fighting a constant battle to explain Samuel’s complexities, his medications, and his disabilities, over and over again to doctors, nurses, teachers, and even people who don’t understand why our life looks the way it does.
And yet, in the middle of it all, we keep going. We push through the pain and exhaustion, we find strength we didn’t know we had, and we get up every single day ready to fight again, because Samuel needs us, and because hope and love never gives up. That resilience is what carries us forward, even when our hearts feel heavy and our bodies are worn down.
This is our journey. It’s raw and sometimes unfiltered. Not for sympathy, but for understanding.
Next time you see a family like ours, please pause before you stare. Offer a smile instead of a look of confusion. Show kindness, compassion, and grace, because behind those bags, behind those brave faces, is a family doing everything they can to keep going.
We carry more than bags. We carry many things at once. We carry fear and burdens that would scare many. But most of all, we carry hope and love that refuses to give up
