Few weeks ever seemed as long as Graduation 2014.  Well in sight is the finish line.  Just one more long day with sun and heat is all that's left to wrap this up.  Soon all of the preparation will be done and maybe there will be a moment or two to catch my breath.  Our next graduation is this December but that will be in Waco.  I have zero intention of going through all of this in a distant city.  No doubt but all of this is worth it.  Who could ever imagine my youngest would be a graduate?

My youngest is autistic.  Now that means a whole bunch of things that seldom duplicate from one person to another.  Some of the memories of his diagnosis feel like it was yesterday.  Other recollections become a bit more hazy with time.  He went through more than a few tests in those early days.  Most of them came with soul crushing news.  One expert said he would never do much in school as he grew.  My son surpassed those expectations in his own way.  We started around fourteen years ago on this educational journey.  Tomorrow will be an end for this part of it.

No one should ever anticipate such a path will not be without trials or setbacks.  Let me admit there was more than once or twice when we had to become more aggressive about what he was experiencing.  Not all teachers are really good at special needs children even with a degree in the subject.  Summer is one of those obstacles as He tended to lose what he knew when out of school.  A few problems are going to remain private just because they left their unique sore spots.  But he made it in the end.  He reads. He writes. He does math.  He is not just getting a diploma because he is eighteen but he earned it on his level. 

He is my hero in many ways.  I sometimes envy that certain innocence of his due to his autism.  Oblivious is a good word to describe his awareness of the global troubles of the day.  He does not worry about the economy, healthcare or any other crisis that looms large for many of us.  His world is simple.  Having a special needs child can teach you on what matters and what really doesn't.  None of it is really easy but it is worthwhile.

I do wonder why God allows such to happen to some.  Many children face life with horrific limitations physically, mentally and emotionally.  Maybe they are here to show us the best part of who we can be.  We consider our world to be normal but we get stressed out by small stuff.  I have no clue what or how he thinks about a lot.  The same is true for the other students in his class.  What is true is these children do exist and are worth our best.  God created them just as much as He does those that are normal.  So we live with them and love them.  We hang in there with them as they grow.  We laugh at the silly things they do.  We cry when alone so no one notices.  We become better people because of them.  That is God's gift to us.  We simply take those blessings to give to others.  Now that is what normal people can and should do.

Bro. Trey