The Gift of Sight

A Letter to my Son.

Jul 01, 2024

My sweet Cooper,

You are sitting by the door right now waiting for your friend to get here. You know she is coming at lunchtime. Which to you is noon. Which is 2 hours and 12 minutes from the time I write this.

You woke up at 5:30 am because you were excited. I was not excited about that.

Anyhow, the reason I’m writing this down is because your sister just walked up to me, pointed to a mole on my leg and said...’BUG!’ And then slapped my leg. It was pretty funny.

And as I laughed at her, I wondered if you have ever noticed a bug. What a weird thing to wonder, right? I mean, we live in Minnesota, the mosquito capital of the world. You’ve felt bugs. That’s a given. But have you ever seen them? I honestly don’t know. You’ve never told me.

You seem to see and hear what you want too. I used to be sad about that. Really sad. I wanted you to see bikes and kids and baseballs. I tried so hard kid.

And then one day I woke up. Just like that. I realized you could see. And you could hear. You have this unique gift of choosing what matters and what doesn’t.

You see letters and numbers on license plates.

You hear the word Target on a commercial.

You see dandelions, not the yellow ones, the white ones that need to be wished on. And mud. You see mud everywhere.

You hear a train whistle 5 counties over.

You feel a bump in your sock and when it’s going to rain. You always know before I do.

You love the wind. I will watch you sometimes, the gusts blowing your hair around, and I swear you are listening, picking out the sounds that matter.

You hear the words birthday party, boat, and cookie and know to immediately put your shoes on.

You don’t understand when people tease you or stare at you. But you sure see people who need to be waved at.

You love when kids come over. Not to play with, but you love their noise and energy. You hug your favorite ones. And Poppy even gets kisses. She is 4 and the first girl you’ve ever kissed.

You hear when your brother is driving me crazy, and giving me a hard time, and try to defend me, like my protector.

You look at the clouds like you see people. You stare and study them, as if you see something I do not.

You see color kid. And you hear it too. But mostly, you see the people who love you. And you are drawn to them. You let them in. I remind them gently; they need to try and look through your eyes and hear through your ears. Because it’s a gift that not every person gets.

I’m writing you these letters Cooper so someday, when you are older, you will understand how you helped me truly see. See people and the world. See good and bad. And see autism.

I guess they are thank you letters. Maybe even love letters. Or a little of both.

Thank you,

Mom

When my son was diagnosed with severe, nonverbal autism at age 3, I longed for a crystal ball. Anything to show me just a glimpse of the future. What would his life be life? What would mine be like? Would he be happy? Would he speak? Here is the glimpse I needed. While it's different than what I pictured, it's beautiful too.

UPCOMING EVENTS

I’m coming to Alabama! This will be my first time!

MERGE: Mobile

July 19 @ 8:30 am - 3:00 pmLocation

Dayspring Baptist Church
2200 Cody Road Mobile, AL 36695

MERGE is a one-day mind-blowing experience that will encourage you, equip you, and then send you out to have the best school year ever!

Welcome to MERGE: Mobile! Join us for an exciting event at Dayspring Baptist Church. MERGE is designed to bring teachers, student leaders, and guests together in this unique development approach. With the emphasis of a teacher-designed conference, we hope that you will come together with us and move forward better for the next school year.

Who can attend MERGE? Anyone! The cost includes two meals, a conference shirt, door prizes, and loads of quality tutorials on how to be a more inclusive educator and leader of our differently-abled students.

Tickets are $30.00.

Interested in zooming with me and meeting other people?

Four times a year I zoom with my paid subscribers, right here on Substack. It’s really fun getting to know other people walking this similar path. We have zooms scheduled for the next 4 weeks. Subscribe, sign up, and come chat!

And if you don’t want too, please know that’s A-OK. You can just get exclusive content.