To You Saturday

Autism, I saw a lot of it today. I want to cry, I want to rejoice, and I want to hide from all these dang emotions. How can you have a bad good day or a good bad day. Well, that’s what today felt like. This morning felt slow but good. Owen had a couple of moments where things weren’t going his way but he recovered pretty easily. We went to the coffee shop, I got my amazing coffee, and as we were sitting in the car ready to leave I hear, “O P E N”. I heard it again and again and again. It took me a minute to realize Owen wasn’t spelling his own name. I was excited. He was saying the letters on the sign of the coffee shop as they were flashing. To say the least, I got a little excited. I have him read signs with me all the time but this was on his own. I may have startled us both with my screaming rejoices of accolades. As we were driving to the bowling alley I talked to Owen about words and he helped me spell several more. We got to the bowling alley and it was a rough start for Owen. He doesn’t want to use the ramp anymore and he expects for us to hit the pins every time. After a few frames, he calmed down and started enjoying the moment. I think it’s hard for me when he is upset because how do you explain that we can’t get a strike every frame, yet. His want to succeed at bowling makes me think it won’t be long until he is getting those strikes regularly. We ordered his own ball today and I think once he can hold it in his own grip it will literally be a game changer. Some days I’m more emotional than others, today’s one of those days. We made it through today as a team. We walked out our door into the big wide world and we succeeded. The bumps and curves in the road will still get you to the same place; it’s how you arrive that’s important. Keep your smile shining bright and move forward. Smiles to all and donut daze!