Because of the way donations are tracked at the autism walk we are unable to get a list of donors that mailed in their donation directly to Autism Speaks. Don't worry "Sam's Club" got credit for the donations we just aren't able to thank everyone directly. For everyone who did not get a direct thank you from us please accept this thanks from the bottom of our hearts. The overwhelming love and support for our family has blown us away....Thank you! On that note I'm going to share the following story to show what research, therapy and awesome teachers can do.
The other day as I was sitting in this very chair (kind of explains why I'm not losing any weight) the kids were behind me watching one of those extremely annoying kids sing-a-long videos. You know the ones where the songs get stuck in your head AND NEVER LEAVE! "B-I-N-G-O, and bingo was his name-o"...see told ya! Anyhoo, as I was listening to Sam sing, he has a pretty good voice, better than mine. Then again, chayley sings better than I do...okay, off track...sorry! I remembered the story of the scrapbooking store. At the core of autism is difficulty in communication, speech can be delayed a little or some kids never speak. We were at the beginning of our autism journey with no idea where it was going and then this. I was shopping at my local scrapbooking store (shocked, aren't ya?) now for those of you who aren't familiar with scrapbooking stores they typically have an area of tables set aside for people to bring in their stuff and work on projects in the store. This night two women were scrapping away and complaining LOUDLY about how they had to get out of the house because their kids would not stop talking. They went on and on for what seemed like an eternity about how their kids would not be quiet and they just had to leave and get away. After about twenty minutes or what seemed like HOURS to me at the time, I couldn't take it anymore, I barely made it to the counter to buy my few sheets of paper (see how distracted I was, I couldn't even shop...the horror!). I somehow managed to get to the car and call my sweet understanding husband before the tears gushed...good thing he can understand my "cry language". You see, these ladies had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what a blessing their childrens voices were. For years I would tell Sam "I love you" about four million times a day and every night I would pray that someday he would say it back. On lucky days he would talk to me in my dreams but, the days turned into weeks and eventually into years...that was hard. But, we were lucky Sam had/has amazing teachers and therapists who thanks to all the research being done were able to try new things with him and then this: October 19, 2004 Sam walks into my bathroom while I was getting ready hugged my leg (he was shorter then) said "I love you, Mom" and bounced out just as fast as he came in. Sam was five years old. I somehow managed to find the phone call my sweet, understanding husband and tell him what happend...and then cried even harder than that night outside the scrapbooking store. Hearing him sing an annoying kids song is something that not that long ago I wasn't sure I would ever hear and it's a beautiful sound. Okay...truth, I like it better when he sings Tim McGraw or Kenny Chesney songs but, trust me, I'm not picky! A couple of things I would like you to take from this story...1. The next time your kids are arguing or talking back say a quick prayer for those parents who would give anything to hear that sound and 2. When you donate to a cause remember that the research they are doing answers prayers.
