The Austin Walks for Autism Speaks was this Saturday. Blue and I participated together. In fact, he gave his very own cash donation, without my prompting. "I just want to help," he said. He also bought us breakfast that morning -just donuts and milk, but hey, what a wonderful gesture. His brother won't even share a french fry with me, after I bought them.
Blue's teacher from last year invited us to join her team for the Autism walk. She misses him. I know that he misses her as was evident by the bashful smile on his face when he saw her and several other staff members from his elementary school. He greeted them all with authentic hugs, not the 'please don't get to close to me' kind-of-hugs that he usually gives. I miss them too. They know him. They have known us for so many years. Knowing is half the battle in educating a child with autism. They didn't have to read his social cues. They just read his heart and knew how special he is. I always knew they had his best interest at heart.
Later Saturday afternoon, we met our friends at a neighborhood festival. Blue gets along so well with all of my girlfriend's daughters. He played games, won prizes and gladly shared them with Skye. He treats her like a sister -only better. She's a girl -but a tough cookie. It was so fun to watch the two of them having it out in the giant inflatable boxing ring. It's a joy to watch the two of them play together. I am secretly trying to adopt all of my friend's daughters, since I will never have a girl. Hopefully, I'll have lots of nieces when my sons grow up and forget all about me.
Good days like this are rare -so I must take notice when they happen. There are many times when I see families out together having simple fun. I am envious, although I know I shouldn't be. I wish that we could go out as an entire family, smile, laugh and have a good time with no issues. It is what it is. I'll take what I can get.
This was book "Aspergers What Does It Mean to Me" was an excellent resource when my son started asking questions about why he was different. It really helped him understand Aspergers and made him feel good about himself. I think we may make it bedtime reading again for a while...
