November 20, 2022
The Most Memorable Moments of Our Lives
I’ve learned as I’ve aged that the biggest, most memorable moments of our lives, are often the ones we least expect.
Of course a wedding, the birth of our babies, an anniversary, are the best.
But other ones sneak in. When you least expect them.
A solo car ride with your son.
A walk with your aging parent.
Staying up way too late drinking wine with your husband.
Coffee with a friend.
Or when your first born watches his first ever movie, start to finish, with your family on movie night.
Cooper is eleven and autistic and he prefers his own shows. The ones he loves.
Sometimes he will sit near our family. On the floor. Watching his own shows.
Never glancing at the tv or laughing at the humor. Near but far too.
But not tonight. Tonight was different. See it’s been a long day and we are all a bit exhausted. A bit worn out. So a movie night seemed perfect.
Cooper asked for a bowl of popcorn, which is brand new!
He carried his blanket downstairs.
He picked his seat.
And he watched ALL, and I mean all of the movie his brothers picked out.
He laughed so hard he rolled and ran to his brothers to high five them.
He laughed so hard that his dad and I made eye contact and smiled, never saying a word. Both of us thinking the same thing.
This. Is. Amazing.
See, we have settled into autism. Into our son’s autism. We have this comfortable groove where very little surprises us these days.
But one hard part, the one that we feel the most, is the missing him part.
We want him with our family. Present. Engaged. Joyful. It can’t be forced. We know that. So we wait. Patiently.
We let him grow and learn and we all adapt.
Near but far is usually what we get. And that’s a blessing. We know that.
But not tonight.
‘Cooper’s laughing mama. Do you hear him! He likes it!’ — Harbor, our 4 year old son.
The simplest of moments can sometimes make the most impact.
This piece was written by Kate of Finding Cooper’s Voice to give you a glimpse into the secret world of autism. Thank you for stopping by. If this piece touched you in anyway, made you feel something, consider grabbing our book on amazon
