message from carol

[Guest guest]

Sherry,

can you please forward this to the DS-Autism group for me. Thanks!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

With all that is going on in our lives it's good to they we have a chance to

take a day and reflect on all the goodness and blessings in our lives. We

spend so much time dealing with the hardships, the stress, the doctors and

teachers that sometimes it just takes over and we often wonder how much if any

more of this can we take.

What do I have to be thankful for? Well let's see.

I am thankful that my sister did not die when she was so ill, or the times

when her disability overcame her so much that she just didn't want to live any

more.

I am thankful that my sister and her family is here to share Thanksgiving

day with us..

I am thankful my grown son who has given so much of himself and gave up so

much to stay and help me with his sister.

I am thankful for my beautiful daughter who has taught me more than any

formal schooling could ever teach me.

I am thankful for the opportunity to learn and grow through Trisha and to be

given the chance to see things in a way that I would probably never have seen

before.

I am thankful that my child has more gumption than I could ever muster as

she goes through her daily life climbing over each obstacle and overcoming odds

that would have me running straight to bed with a I can't attitude. She is

so remarkable, she has pain but she keeps on going, there are things that are

so hard for her to do yet she still keeps trying. She sees a person not for

their color or gender and not for their status in the world but for how they

treat her and if they treat her good then that's all she needs, if they

don't, she won't have anything to do with them. What a simple concept but yet

we

who are so called " normal " or " typical " haven't seemed to master that and yet

our children not only get it they live it.

I am thankful to see love the way love is meant to be seen. To be loved so

unconditionally is the best kind of love there is. To be loved even in spite

of all of my flaws and mistakes is the truest form of love there is. Trisha

doesn't love me because I am her mother, she loves me just because. I am so

thankful to have that kind of special love and to be able to love her back

just as unconditionally.

I am thankful even for the hardships that we have gone through and will

continue to go through because it doesn't make us stronger, it shows us just how

much strength we already have. I am thankful that I can still get up and

face each new day and do it all over again.

I am thankful, that even when I felt like throwing the towel in, God said,

come on you can do it, and I did. I am thankful to be the mother to two

wonderful kids (yea I know one is grown but he is still my kid).

I am thankful to my friends and family and to my cyber friends I have made

over the years who have made this journey more bearable and rewarding.

There is so much more to be thankful about but there is just too much to li

st everything. So it is good to have a day to think about what we are

thankful for and when you doubt you have anything to be thankful for just start

writing all the things you are glad are in your life and you'll see just how

much we have to be thankful for.

I am thankful to have such good traveling companions as we go through this

special journey together and I wish you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Carol

Trishasmom

She isn't typical, She's Trisha!