Pictures in My Mind
When you become a parent, and probably even before, you imagine your child’s life. You imagine your own.
You have this picture in your head of what it will look like.
Scenarios. Highs. Successes. Wins. The beautiful moments.
That’s normal. As humans we do that. We daydream. We imagine.
When something challenges those images it can be hard. Like really hard. What you thought would be is not.
I’m here to tell you that once you step off the path of what you pictured and into the unknown, your life begins.
It will be scary at first. And most likely hard. You will have a lot to figure out. Independently.
It will take strength and courage. Two things that I had to muster up. They didn’t come naturally to me. But the love for my son did. So I found them. I found my courage and my strength and I put him on my back and together we walked into our new life.
For us the wins didn’t come easily for Cooper. But we didn’t give up. But more importantly we learned to celebrate him…exactly the way he is.
Last night at Miracle League he wore his baseball hat. He hit the ball all by himself. No help. He ran the bases. He didn’t sit down or drop or roll.
He chased the ball. He fielded. He threw. He clapped and gave high fives. He fist bumped too. And for the first time in ten years, I got to be the mom and his dad got to be the dad and we watched him run and play.
It was the sweetest moment of my life possibly. We got to be his parents and no more. We got to celebrate Cooper.
I guess my point is the wins are so much sweeter than I ever could have imagined when we stepped off the path that I imagined.
We found hope and joy nestled in.
Give it time moms and dads. Give it time to sink in and settle. And rise up.
And then celebrate everything. Every. Little. Thing.
Cooper hugged his friends last night. He asked a fellow mom for a snack. He posed for the group photo. And it wasn’t easy for him. I know he was so close to screaming and running and hitting the pain out of his head. But instead, he said cheese and used his fingers to count to 100.
And he had fun. That’s the most important one. He had fun.
Who needs a home run or a winning score when you have wins like these ones.
The victories may not look like the ones we pictured in our head. And that’s ok. I’m here to tell you to let those pictures go. And celebrate the beautiful one in front of you.
Way to play buddy. You did a great job!
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, subscribe for exclusive videos, and subscribe to our newsletter.
