The IncRETTibles – a Column by Jacqueline Babiarz

Registration. Physical. Supplies. Even though there is still over a month left of summer, I’m already preparing for the start of a new school year. I’m not only getting myself ready, but also my daughter and my students. My daughter, Ryan, has her sports physical completed by mid-July so there…

My husband, Billy, loves to golf. After working hard all week, there is nothing he enjoys more than spending a few hours on the golf course. These days, I don’t mind how much time he spends golfing. In fact, I encourage it. But it wasn’t always that way. When our…

In 2009, my husband and I were living in a third-floor condo in Chicago. My brother and his wife lived just 2 miles away. Within eight days of each other, we both welcomed beautiful baby girls into the world. It felt like a dream come true. Our daughters would grow…

Before our late daughter, Cammy, was diagnosed with Rett syndrome shortly before her second birthday, she was already receiving services through our state’s early intervention program. For 10 months — from 12 months old to 22 months old — her days were filled with appointments for physical therapy,…

Handprint art. Construction paper flowers. Homemade cards. Acrostic poems spelling out M-O-M. These are the images that come to mind when I think of Mother’s Day. For many years, my oldest daughter, Cammy, proudly gave me these treasures. Because she had Rett syndrome, Cammy was never able to…

There is one month of school left. For many families, that means countdowns, celebrations, and the final stretch of a busy school year. For me, it is a quiet reminder of all the moments my late daughter, Cammy, should be experiencing right now. Some of these milestones are exciting,…

“How do you tell your child their sibling is going to die?” That is a question I never expected to Google. In early November 2023, our oldest daughter, Cammy, was on a BiPAP machine in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) when she stopped breathing. The medical team rushed…

My late daughter, Cammy, was diagnosed with Rett syndrome at just 20 months old in 2011. From that moment on, advocacy became part of our everyday life. Cammy’s journey taught our family not only about the challenges that people with disabilities face, but also about the importance of compassion,…

“Do we have chunky peanut butter?” It was an ordinary question my husband asked one afternoon last year. He was standing in the kitchen, scanning the pantry, and thinking about sandwiches. But his question stopped me cold. For 15 years, only smooth peanut butter filled our shelves. Not because we…

I never thought about where I sat in the school’s gymnasium until my late daughter, Cammy, gained a wheelchair when she was 3. For most of my life, taking a seat was automatic — I’d climb to the top row of the bleachers, without hesitation, and settle in wherever the…