Building An Autism Community

This is a clay molding that my son made for his dad. If you look closely you can see that it is a house standing on the side of a mountain. Isn't it lovely? 

I have been trying with some luck to organize a chapter of the Autism Society of NC for the county that I live in. Well, sort of. I have spoken with the Autism Society of NC but I am thinking of forming my own non-profit. I am not sure if I want to be associated with them directly. There is a lot of research to be done and I am following a lot of promising leads for starting an organization in my county. My cousin Randolph suggested reviewing surveys about autism for my county and surrounding counties, which we did together. There is so much need here. 

I have figured out why resources are limited. There is no one to take the lead, and if someone does take the lead, they have to invest a ton of time and money to get things going in a manner that will help the community. No one seems to be reaching out, it is like everyone has either given up hope or they are waiting for someone to hand something to them so they don't have to do any work. To me, the only way this "idea" of mine will get off the ground is if we all work together for the greater good. Am I missing something? What can I do differently? How do you reach people that feel like everyone had given up on them?

 

Love Never Fails

Life is steadily moving forward. We have to go with the flow of it or the undercurrent will suck us down. I have been thinking a lot about what it means to love, to be loved and to truly let go of love when it no longer brings you joy. Love is a choice, you choose to love right?

That old Bible verse from 1 Corinthians 13:4 keeps coming to mind when I am thinking about love.

Does anyone really love this way? I love my children this way. No matter who they become, or what they may do, I will love them until my last breath. I love my family this way. There have been times when I have wanted to strangle them, and there have been times when I wish they could see themselves the way that I see them. To truly realize what they are worth when they are with people who show such disregard for who they are and how they feel.

I think about this Bible verse in terms of my marriage. My estranged husband and I have been separated 11 months now. The last three years of our marriage were hard. I had to choose to love him everyday even though there were aspects of his personality that I found questionable. I know that he had to choose to love me some days as well. I never had to count the anniversary years as they went by because being with him felt right. I now wonder what ideals he struggled with. I never asked him.

Love Never Fails. We as human beings constantly fail love. It's like when the tough get going, we bail. Why do we do that? Granted, sometimes bailing is the only way for you to recover, but why does it have to hurt and be so hard? So here is to letting go and realizing my own self worth and learning how to TRULY love myself.