Celebrate all of the Victories
I chatted with a father a while back about his four adult children.
One is a doctor. One is a lawyer. One works in finance. A couple of them are married and have given him beautiful grand children. One of them is a world traveler.
And the fourth, his youngest, works 4 hours a week at a book store. She has limited speaking and a diagnosis of autism. Like my Cooper.
She is adored at her job. She greets people and restocks books. She loves helping.
She takes transportation all by herself to get to her job. She is responsible for her own schedule.
She does the Special Olympics Polar Plunge every year.
I smiled as he listened to him tell me about his children. And I noticed something in his voice changed when he spoke of his youngest.
The dad said to me…’people assume that I am the most proud of my surgeon son. Or my lawyer daughter. And they are wrong. While I’m proud of all four of my successful children, I am the most proud of my daughter for working at the book store because I know how hard she worked over the years to get the skills to do so.’
‘Every day she fought an uphill battle. And she made it. And for so many years my wife and I didn’t know what the future held. But she did it.’
I think about that story often.
Last weekend my middle son played in a hockey tournament. He skated and scored goals and stopped some too. He high fived and listened and cheered on his teammates. It was amazing.
Last night my other son played soccer. Sang me the ABCs. Dressed himself independently. Asked to go to Target after school. He is 3.
And my Cooper, he walked into a store without needing to have his hand held.
He spent 30 minutes choosing what treasures he wanted to buy as a reward for his first every truly successful haircut.
He waved to strangers. He communicated ‘home’ when he was done.
We negotiated. We paid. We sat down and took a break. He buckled his own seatbelt. We rode home happy. He even put on his brand new t-shirt.
All of my kids are amazing. Neither victory is less than. All work so hard.
Celebrate all kinds of victories. Big and small. Visible and invisible. Typical and untypical.
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. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and join our supporter page, Coop’s Troops, for an amazing community full of support and understanding.
