The Light of Hope

I have always loved to celebrate.  Why not smile?  Why not take a moment and remember the good?  But it has been Isaac who has taught me the necessity of celebrating.  It is not idleness that commands us to stand back and reflect.  It is our intrinsic need to focus on the things that really matter to the world.

I remember the first year after Isac was diagnosed.  He was two.  His younger sister was six months old.  I dreaded the diagnosis even though I was smart enough to know it was coming.  I dreaded the Pandoric Box I was sure diagnosis would open.   Slowly and bravely, we approached the diagnosis and were immediately surrounded by whirlwinds of acronyms screaming around our Happy Laughter.  The sinister shrieks of therapies, evaluations, specialists and agencies consumed our ears with deafening cries that threatened to drown out our Isaac's laughter.  The nemesis of laughter is despair.  It flew out of the diagnosis and descended into our hearts.  Autism consumed our thoughts and our schedules.  

But do you remember the story of Pandora?   After all the demons escaped, something else was freed.    Something small....and seemingly insignificant....Hope rose. Out of that horrid diagnostic day, Hope appeared.   We realized that as Isaac's parents, our primary responsibility was to grow this Hope and to harbor her sisters Faith and Love.  We resolved that while we could not ignore the more difficult aspects of Isac's diagnosis....we would not let them define Isaac or our family.  We would harbor Hope, we would celebrate achievement, we would take joy in baby steps and hold tight to the faith that we could make it through.  Hope provided the light to help us remember that our son was not autistic.  He was and is... Isaac.  Happy Laughter.