In the spirit of the holiday, I thought this quote represented so much of our family’s journey with autism and specifically what Son-Rise has taught us about our life with our special child. To see the beauty in our son and to celebrate him for who he is and what he brings to our life and the lives of those around us has been the most unexpected blessing of this whole journey. It has enlightened us two-fold: one in the overall beauty of our relationship with our child and two with the realization of the love and support we have from family and friends.
So point one: The amount of weight lifted off of us when we were able to just breathe and realize that we COULD and SHOULD first and foremost just enjoy and celebrate our sweet boy was amazing. Just that alone immediately enriched the quality of our time spent with him. Instead of focusing so much energy and time into, “How do we fix this?”, we are able to see the beauty of him as he is. As a result of just this realization, we have witnessed so much growth in our son and in turn our acceptance and love alone has enriched our closeness and bond with him as well.
Point two: Opening ourselves up to needing others or even just admitting the need for other’s help was the most difficult part of this Son-Rise journey for us. It’s a vulnerability that we really struggled with sharing. The most beautiful part of allowing this to happen though was the fact that so many friends and family not only helped us financially, but we also received so many cards, beautiful encouraging notes, prayer and support in our journey with our son. So many people have also shared with us countless stories of how Lucas has touched their lives (stories of which we would’ve been completely unaware of had we not taken this path). It is also something else entirely to be able to see the beauty of your child through other people’s eyes.
So, above all, our sweet boy has taught us so much more about life, love and acceptance than I think we are ever going to be able to teach him. He has taught us how to see the world through love and to be thankful for each and every moment that love brings. We are thankful for each one of you and for our volunteers who put their own valuable time into loving and accepting our child. We couldn’t do it without all of you!