I Am Thankful for My Family

I am thankful for so much. I am thankful for my job, my health, and my sense of humor. Which really helps when we are stressed out!)

But most of all, I am thankful for my family.

My family consists of my father, my mother, my brother, my husband and my boys. My husband’s wonderful family (his father, mother, brother, and sister) are absolutely wonderful and we love them to no end, but they are very far away.

Let me start with my mother…

My mother and father live about an hour and a half away from us. My mother drives that distance three times a week to help take care of our boys so that I can work and for my husband to go to school.

She comes to our home, cleans up, gets snacks ready for the boys, picks up the boys from school, and then makes sure that they are here ready for their ABA therapy.

When the boys were diagnosed with autism and mixed expressive-receptive language disorder, my mom was the first person that I called. She was extremely supportive.

She continues to learn about autism and learn ways to support them better. She finds things that they would love and will continuously bring things over.

She loves them. And the boys love her so much. Yuri, my older boy, especially loves calling her name. “ba-ba”, a short way to say grandmother in Japanese. She is definitely Yuri’s favorite.

My father

With my father, he comes once a week, on Saturdays. He loves and accepts them as they are. He tends to be the one that spoils the boys, but I know it is because he only gets to see them once a week.

Akira, my younger boy, especially loves his grandpa.

When my father is here, you can bet that Aki is following him around. Aki has actually muttered my father’s name when he is sleeping.

He loves his “Ji-ji,” a short way to say grandfather in Japanese. Even when Aki is playing and does not acknowledge my father, my father is understanding.

He will still call Aki’s name and say “hi” and give him a pat on the head. I know it can not be easy for him, but he loves them both.

Both of my parents do quite a bit for them and give them a lot. For example, we have a jungle gym in our living room. And yes, it is as big. The boys love it though.

They also have a two-seater tricycle(Akira’s favorite). Oh, and their birthday gift? A bounce house.

My brother…

Ah, my brother. He used to live far away in New York. Now, he lives about 2 hours away and he visits once a month.

When my brother is here, everything kind of disappears for Aki. My brother and my father are Aki’s two favorite people in the world.

When I was pregnant, my brother expressed that he was hoping for a nephew. Well, he got two nephews at the same time.

He is amazing with them.

Both he and my father marvel at their growth, but my brother definitely sees it more since he only sees them once a month. I think it also is special for him since he was away from them for 2 years for school.

Even during that time, when he came over, Aki would run up to him, put his arms up and say, “uncle!” He plays with them, runs around with them and loves on them constantly.

My husband…

For my husband, I can not say enough about him. You see, a few months after the boys were born, Yuki was wonderful enough to cut his hours down at work so he can stay home more often to be with them.

He watches them almost full time. He is the one that cooks for them, makes sure that they are well taken care of, takes them to the park, etc.

He has been there every step of the way with me. Every single appointment, every single assessment… When we got the diagnosis, we agreed that we can do this.

We immediately went into “ok, what do we do next?” mode. We were able to brainstorm and really make sure that the boys would get all the services.

Amazingly, the boys are in school, both in an autism class (separately). We actually just had a meeting with the school about their progress.

The boys just started in August.

Aki is meeting his IEP (individualized education plan) goals, right on time. Yuri has actually met ALL OF HIS ANNUAL GOALS in less than 3 months!!

They went from not talking at all to… where they are at now. They are starting to follow directions better. They are starting to understand. They say “mama”, “dada”, “ji-ji”, “ba-ba” and “uncle”. They say, “open please,” “come please” and Aki’s favorite, “stay!” (He mostly says that to me.) And many other words. That is new.

Those steps keep us going.

Without my parents, my brother and my husband, I know the boys would not be where they are at!!

My boys…

And last but not least… I am thankful for the boys.

Both Yuri and Akira are such wonderful, fun, loving boys.

Aki loves giving kisses. He loves to sing, to dance and music. Any kind of music makes him happy.

Yuri loves hugs and cuddles. He loves monkeys and animals. Both of them love to laugh. They smile and the whole room lights up. Because of them, our family has gotten closer.

And for that, I am thankful.

Written by, Chisato

Chisato is married to her best friend and is raising two beautiful, silly, funny and adorable three-year-old boys together. She is also a licensed marriage and family therapist and a licensed professional clinical counselor in Southern California. In both roles, she is passionate to help others in their journey called life.

(Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Chisato and is part of Cooper’s, ‘I’m Thankful For You’ Campaign.)

Finding Cooper’s Voice is a safe, humorous, caring and honest place where you can celebrate the unique challenges of parenting a special needs child. Because you’re never alone in the struggles you face. And once you find your people, your allies, your village….all the challenges and struggles will seem just a little bit easier. Welcome to our journey. You can also follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter.