For Raising Special Kids

“I urge financial support of the [Raising Special Kids] program. . . . The Massanari’s create a gentle and open container for people. Even though my stepson is an independent adult, I have never had the opportunity to share my story with those who really understand. . . . People need to tell the truth about their experience so they can move on to what they will become. Raising Special Kids provides a setting for doing this [and it] is not provided anywhere else. Raising Special Kids needs your support.”
   -Parent and professional

“What we mostly figured out [by taking Raising Special Kids] was that we’re not alone. It opened our eyes to a new world. There are people coping with a change in lifestyle. You learn how to handle your anger, your frustration, and be positive.”
   - Father of child with special health care needs reported in a feature article in the Asheville Citizen Times, January 30, 2001.

“What a blessing the [ Raising Special Kids ] class has been! And a found a wonderful new friend with one of the other moms.”
   - Mother of two boys.

“Raising Special Kids gave me a chance to meet other parents of special children which enabled me to know that I am not alone in what I experience with my child.”
    -Father of boy

“I was finally able to talk about my experiences. Thanks.”
   - Mother of two boys

“It’s just good to talk about it.”
   - Father of three girls

Feature Article in Asheville Citizen Times, September 9, 1998

For Our Life With Caleb

"A moving story, unsentimental, yet necessarily sad, of the 5 1/2 month life of the author’s little boy, stricken soon after birth by lung disease. In the book's first part, Caleb's father describes making his son's cradle, the LaMaze practice sessions, the excitement of the birth, the shock and anger at the pronouncement ‘your son is very sick,’ the progress and relapses, Caleb's inevitable death. In her section, Alice Massanari faces squarely the fact that ‘the present had to be lived somehow with the truth of Caleb's death.” Jared and Alice Massanari are brave, sensitive, thoughtful people who have endured a searing experience with courage and depth of understanding many of us might not have been capable of.”
   - Douglas S. Marsh, Library Journal.

“The book affirms the dignity of human life, measuring worth not in terms of life's length or physical quality but rather in terms of its spiritual depth. Parents are challenged to be sensitive to what their children have to teach them about relationships, allowing themselves to be changed in the process. Parenting with integrity is the sizable legacy left to Jared and Alice by the life and death of their small son, Caleb.
   - Sara Wengerd, Provident Book Finder