Yesterday I had the opportunity to support a great organization called Project Hope. My daughter with autism, is part of a fabulous program that provides a wonderful school environment and superb therapy services. Every year, in November, they have the Hope Relay and she and I walk the 5K portion of the event. Yesterday the…
The View From Above
This past week I took a trip to Austin, TX. It has been a minute since I was on a plane. About 10 years worth of minutes. I’m always amazed that a metal tube can get off the ground and fly above the clouds. My 9 year old asked me to take pictures of EVERYTHING,…
Gatekeepers
My family and I were recently at the beach. The place we were staying at was right on the ocean and it had several amenities that you could only access if you had on a bracelet from the resort. We wore our bracelets all week so we could access the lazy river, swimming pools, etc. …
Being Imitators
Because Cadence is profoundly autistic, her skill set is pretty small. As she grows into a woman her level of independence continues to grow, but it has taken years. One thing, however, that she has always loved to do is color and draw. At first she would just color randomly, just lines and blobs. As…
Running out of Margin
I remember the first time Cadence, my profoundly autistic daughter, wrote her name completely on her own. She was about 10 years old and time stood still in that moment. We had been working on that for years. Since that monumental day, her name writing has become a regular part of her life. She writes…
The Truth about Millennials
I have heard a lot of discussion about Millennials over the past couple years. Most of it negative. I’ve seen the memes on Facebook and heard the jokes. I have seen the shaking heads of the older generation and heard some of the rants. So I think I’m going to throw my 2 cents worth…
Taking the High Road
My family and I were recently in NC and were looking for something to do. When we need to find something to do, we always look at TripAdvisor which mentioned a spot called Shunkawauken Falls. It said it was right on the side of the road. Easy peasy right? Wrong. Way, way, way wrong. I…
Daughters
As a mom of 5 kids I have learned that I still have tons to learn. But along this path of motherhood some of my greatest lessons have been taught to me by the very children I try to teach. Lately, I’ve been thinking particularly about my daughters. One thing that all women have in…
When Ideals Collide
About 6 months ago my teenage daughter decided she wanted to be a vegan. She had been doing some research and for better health wanted to give the vegan lifestyle a go. For those of you unfamiliar, here’s what that means: A vegetarian does not eat meat, but may still eat the by-products of animals…
Not Letting Go
Yesterday was a day of adventure and misadventure. It was be-au-ti-ful! in SC in the early part of the day. The kids were sitting around playing on their devices and hubby and I decided they needed to get out of the house. We dragged the bikes out of the garage and pumped up the tires…
Making Change in the Offering Plate
We have a valentine’s event coming up at church this weekend. On Sunday, a friend asked me about who to give her money to so she could pay. I told her to put her money in an envelope and drop it in the offering plate with the envelope designated for the event and it would…
Why?
“Why does she do that? ” my 10-year-old asked me recently, while watching her 15-year-old autistic sister draw a picture. The question wasn’t why she was drawing a picture. It was why she had just drawn the same exact picture 15 times in 15 different colors and stacked them neatly in a pile. I wish…
Grace in the Real World - by Connie Post 