Posts Tagged ‘family’
Beauty in the Smallest Things
It’s hard to put into words what it is like to give your everything and more to a little person who cannot call you Mom. I do know it is a lesson in unconditional love to the highest degree. I have this little boy. He has autism, but he is so much more than that. He is a living breathing example of all that is pure and all that is good in this world. He has taught me that the smallest things truly do take up the most space in…
Read MoreAll That’s Locked Inside
Autism comes with so many difficulties. There are serious medical issues. Constant vigilance is required to prevent wandering and accidents. Often, a Herculean effort is required to complete the most basic of tasks. And every victory, every milestone was earned with blood, sweat, and tears. But I want to write about one of the biggest difficulties that comes with autism. It weighs on me daily. I can only imagine how it affects my son, Christopher. And it might even be THE biggest issue for me – the main reason why…
Read MoreSomewhere Along the Way it got Easier
Somewhere along the way it got easier. I can’t tell you exactly when it happened either. I sometimes try to figure out when we let the breath out that we’d been holding for so long. But I can’t pinpoint it. I remember it being hard. New baby hard. No sleep and nursing hard. And then toddler hard. And then really hard. Nonverbal autism hard. I remember trying to live our lives the way we always had. And failing. Everything was hard. And I mean everything. We couldn’t win. No matter…
Read MoreIt’s Like He is in His Own Little World
Being in a new place – with new surroundings, new people, new sounds, new lights, new everything – can be trying for any child. However, for my Jack it’s A LOT. It’s a challenge and something we all have to work hard towards together as a family. But we do it. We want to. Albeit a lot easier, we don’t want to always stay in our comfort zone of home. When the environment gets to be too much for Jack, he stims a lot more (in his case, jumping and…
Read MoreIf I Let Myself Wonder Why
Sometimes I wonder why. I would be lying to you if I said I never wondered why. Why our family? Why me? Why my son? Why him? We are nothing special. We aren’t any stronger than anyone else. We aren’t super parents. I don’t know if God chose us. Or if special kids are given to special people. Or if we have Cooper because we are strong enough to handle the challenges that come with him. I don’t feel like that stuff is true. Not really. I think that’s just…
Read MoreAutism isn’t a Scary Word
Someone I know is dying. Someone who is in my life. She has a spouse. And kids. Grandkids. A sibling. A home. Friends. Hobbies. Faith. A life. A very full life. She is a beautiful person with a beautiful soul. She found out a year ago that she has cancer. I remember when she told me. I didn’t think it was a big deal. Probably because she is such a good person. Bad things don’t happen to good people. So happy. So optimistic. I knew cancer was bad. But she…
Read MoreThe Difference One Year Makes
Our family had a wonderful Easter day. We spent the day at my parent’s house. The boys had an Easter Egg Hunt and each got baskets. Their baskets were filled with goodies. Cooper especially loved his train magazines and flash cards. I saw so many amazing positives in Cooper’s day. Ones that others outside our world might not notice. He was so excited to get an Easter basket for one. Last year, he didn’t notice. Or care. He ate treats. Yes, you read that right. Cooper used to be so…
Read MoreIt Will Always Be Like This
It was a normal Monday afternoon. My boys were playing while I finished up my work on the computer. I closed the Macbook and started thinking about dinner when I heard a large thud followed by crying. My 20 month old had fallen off the toddler bed and hit his head. He was bleeding and a bump was forming. As I was trying to check it better and hold an ice pack on it, my sweet baby stopped breathing. He’d done this before. He gets so mad and screams and…
Read MoreMy Awareness Moment
Today was one of the rare occasions that I got to bring my grandson Noah to therapy. Sara is always the one to do it. I usually stay at home with him unless we go to the grocery store or run some other little errand. He will sit in a basket and look at all the lights and colors just like all little kids his age. He loves the grocery store and Lowes. He really likes Lowes. I don’t know why that’s his favorite but he loves it. Maybe it’s…
Read MoreSuccess in Our World
What does success look like in our world? Success that would have NEVER happened six months ago…we would have had to get a babysitter for Cooper, split up, or skipped it. Success is attending an outdoor Easter Egg hunt at our church as a family. And of course wearing a swimsuit because mom mentioned the word ‘waterpark’ this morning. Being near a road and not running into it. Waving at people. Smiling. Talking to people. Sitting for a few minutes inside the church. Safely wandering. Going on the risers and…
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