Cherie Castellano
The concept for this collage of items from my kitchen drawer derives from my experiences as a mother of
a special needs child and highlights my experience of my ministry of presence for my child and all that
means. “I'm here” is what I say when I comfort my child instinctively, but do not know what to do. I had a
faith revelation as I watched the movie, “The Passion,” during the scene in which Mary watched Jesus fall
while carrying the cross – Mary has a flashback to when he fell and scraped his knee as a boy and she
scoops him into her arms, saying “I'm here.” Suddenly she runs through the crowd to him and holds him,
once again saying “I'm here.” This scene connected my experience with hers and allowed me to be grace
filled.
The other experiences I share in my piece include strings that bind me and help me, complicating my role
yet holding me together hopefully on any given day. The mirrors depict my healing through the reflection I
see of myself at Mom 2 Mom. The photo of my beautiful sons was chosen because they tackled each
other at Sears and it became a portrait for display at the store! The golden heart is what I have always
told LJ about his heart in how he cares for his brother. The bandaid and prescription bottle label
represents the medical circus we endured in trying to cope. The beautiful glass and candy and color
represent the "life in between" moments that are joyful with the gift of love. My page is best described by
a song entitled "Blessings" by Laura Story in which she asks, "What if the trials in our lives, is our mercy
in disguise?"
I dedicate the second page to a mother in the Mom 2 Mom program whose child with special needs is in
such crisis lately that she could not participate in this Project. What she does find time to do amidst her
own crisis, however, is to help other Moms in need despite her own pain. Her gift to those Moms in need
gave me the idea of creating a page that would depict her experience. The string symbolizes how her life
is tied up in the care of her child, and with the desperation of not knowing what else to do, I jokingly
placed a comment about running away to use humor as we so often do at the program. The ticket that
says "wish" is to display her hope and dreams with colorful bows and glitter because she is beautiful and
radiant, especially when her son is well and she lights up talking about him. The gauze and red liquid on
the back depicts the injury and pain of her experience. My hope is that the mirrors on this page will let her
see herself in her strength and that it will ease her pain. The fight to maintain hope as our children
improve and regress is a constant reminder of our fears realized. This woman is a miracle however, so
this page will help sustain her for the next fight, and she will win...with love.
On the hinges connecting the two pages, I have written the words “I’M HERE” to symbolize the
connection between this mother and myself, in our lives and work, and knowing that we are here for one
another and will not become “unhinged.”