NEW DIGS Morgan Hill Unified School District Director of Construction Casino Fajardo points out some of the key features of the Britton Middle School Modernization Project during a June 21 tour of the campus.

Liz Seminar was in the delivery room bringing baby Samantha into the world when something told her things were not quite as they should be. After enduring an array of pregnancy tests, Seminar and husband Dean expected all would be normal with their first-born child. But when Samantha finally arrived after an exhausting delivery, the teams of medical professionals who swiftly took over told them otherwise.
Samantha was born with spina bifida, a birth defect where the fetus’ spinal cord doesn’t develop properly, and Seminar was plunged headfirst into the frightening world of parenting a child with special needs. Sam’s first surgery was scheduled when she was just 2-1/2 weeks old—a surgery that lasted 15 hours.
But if any mother came equipped to handle a little girl with big medical needs, it was Seminar. The Morgan Hill resident is one of many mothers and grandmothers in the South Valley and across the United States who will be showered with love and gratitude Sunday for Mother’s Day.
Working as nanny to the children of several San Francisco 49ers football players, Seminar was accustomed to challenges. She met them head on, the same way she approached motherhood. As her daughter Samantha, now 8, grew and her independent nature blossomed, Seminar realized they needed to step back and take a breath.
“We didn’t want to put our perceptions on her,” she said. “Sam doesn’t see herself as different from other kids.”
Other kids don’t see her as different, either. When the occasional hurt feelings come, Seminar reminds Sam to speak up and then let any hurt and frustration go.
“Your friends are used to you, they don’t see you as disabled,” she tells her daughter. “And that’s a good thing.”
The love and support of a good husband hasn’t hurt. Now 43, Seminar met Dean in 2001. His proposal came at their favorite spot along the coast in Santa Cruz. Dean Seminar says his wife is one of the strongest people he knows. “Having been through five surgeries with Samantha, she has always remained calm, able to really hear what the doctors were saying and doing what needed to be done,”
he said.
“She is the most loving and nurturing person.”
Seminar credits her husband with teaching her to “lighten up a little.” She knows that being a mom brings such a focus on meeting immediate needs that small moments of joy and laughter can be missed.
“Dean is really good at getting me out of my head and helping me let go of all the stress,” she said.
When their second child, 6-year-old Sarah, was born, the family dynamics shifted. With Samantha’s physical needs requiring so much attention, Sarah doesn’t often have her mom to herself.
“I obviously spend an unequal amount of time between them,” Seminar said. But if anyone mistakes Samantha for a spoiled, pampered child, her mom immediately sets the record straight. Samantha is treated no differently than Sarah.
“(Samantha) has her chores, and sometimes she gets in trouble for her mouth, so there are consequences,” Seminar said.
Sarah believes the best part of every day is dinner time when they get to sit down as a family and talk about everyone’s day. And when asked what she loves most about her mother, Sam replies without hesitation.
“She does amazing things!” she said.
One of the amazing things Seminar did in late April was arranging for the family to take a weekend camping trip to The Painted Turtle in Lake Hughes, a Hole in the Wall Camps for kids with special needs
Founded by the late actor Paul Newman, campers and their families attend camp free of charge. Kids ride horses, go fishing or zip-lining and can embark on a ropes course adventure in a wheelchair.
Seminar admits that raising two active girls is a challenge, especially with her nonstop schedule. She works as a special day class aide at Morgan Hill’s Barrett Elementary School, and also signed on as “Cookie Mom” for the Brownie troop led
by her friends Sue Stapleton and Nicole Dziuba.
The three women met when their daughters were in kindergarten together. Things just “clicked,” they said, and they all became
fast friends.
“Liz is our third leg so we can all stand up,” said Sue of their scouting escapades to-gether. Seminar credits her mother for her own level-headedness and ability to stay calm through tough situations. As it is with so many mothers, trying to explain what she enjoys most about motherhood brings deeply-held emotions to the surface.
“It’s watching children growing into little people,” said Seminar, her voice catching on the words. Her beautiful brown eyes brimming with tears, she explained how it all starts with being pregnant.
“Feeling the baby kick, all of that is just so hard to explain, especially
to men. It’s exhausting but wonderful.”

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