“We are so busy sacrificing our needs and wants for the greater good, that we often forget that our needs and wants are part of the greater good. Someone else’s needs always seem more important.”
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Vacation
A New Kind of “Hunting” Trip
“Your husband spends hours, days getting ready for his annual hunting trip. Researching the perfect location where he will get that prize buck. He spends so much 💲💲 every year on new gear and tags you want to cry. There went that new Kitchen Aid you wanted. But he assures you that it’s a good investment because he’ll bring meat home to feed the family all winter.”
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How To: Change Your Life With Inspirational Apparel
“For the rest of my life, I have unforgettable memories that I can pull out and cherish. If an ordinary shirt can help me accomplish that, it’s worth every penny I paid for it.” Read more…
Pushing Acrophobia Boundaries
While on a mini vacation this summer we visited Olympia National Forest and went up to Hurricane Ridge. 
It’s really high up and D has a HUGE fear of heights (Acrophobia). I have some sympathy as I am not hugely comfortable with them myself. We could have let him dictate where we go and what we did. It did to some degree as we didn’t make the 5-mile trek to the Dungeness Lighthouse that we wanted to see earlier in the day as he just can’t handle that much walking.
We have to find balance, so it was no to hiking and yes to pushing the fear of heights. We know that heights terrify him so we didn’t push him too much. From the moment he got out of the car he was hesitant to move anywhere but we wanted him to go into the Ranger Station with us. After touring the station I asked him to come outside for just a minute and take a look.
He did it! This is after he took his look. He’s hugging the side of the building, but he did it!
If we let it, Autism, Acrophobia, and all his accompanying issues could completely control our lives. And to be honest, sometimes it does. But we will keep pushing the envelope, trying to make him feel more secure in a world that makes him feel anything but secure.
Unexpected Gifts on Vacation
This summer our family was on vacation and due to a lot of reasons (sickness and allergies being chief) it was a difficult vacation. What I didn’t expect though were some unusual but great experiences we had on our vacation.
First, I had the opportunity to meet with a Mom who was struggling to find supports in her area. I don’t think I helped much as I don’t live in the area and could only offer general information, but I hopefully helped her find people who can help. This was good for me as it reminded me of why I do what I do. I remember starting this journey of Special Needs and not having any answers that I needed. I didn’t know where to find supports or how to find them. I swore to myself at that time I would do everything I could to keep other parents from that situation. This experience also gave me a chance to reflect on and say a prayer for all those who have helped me on my journey. I really appreciated that, and I enjoyed making a new friend.
Next, we were visiting some cousins and a 13-year-old with Autism kept coming by to visit. He is pretty severely impacted with Autism and kept escaping from his parent’s home. It filled me with so much joy to see how kindly these cousins interacted with him. If I could clone them and populate the world with them I would, because our kids need people like them who see their beauty and worth and treat them accordingly.
The third experience was meeting up with one of my husband’s best friends from High School. They, like us, have one boy and one girl with the boy having autism. We’ve known many children with autism and while D has enjoyed playing with them I have never seen him connect with another child the way he did with this young man. After dinner, the boys rode in our car back to Grandma’s while the girls rode in the other car. Listening to the two boys in the back of the car nearly brought me to tears! They understood each other on a level no one has understood D before. They “scripted” together (reciting movies line for line), enjoying every minute. 
D told him of what he someday dreams of doing and the young man thought his plans were awesome. I could kick myself for not having spent more time with this family over the years. The girls had a great time too, but listening to those boys in the car was something I wasn’t sure D would ever find. That was truly special.
Vacations and getting out of our bubble can be really hard for families of Special Needs kids. But in spite of everything, it can also be really worth it.
