Back in 2006, I had a crazy idea. Okay, I had crazy ideas before 2006 and long after, but this crazy was over the top crazy. I had participated in a parent panel about autism. One of the other moms said that she was looking into getting her son a service dog. When I got home, I looked up the organization and knew I had to get Sam a dog. This place trained dogs to track down "their kid" when they wandered. My mom said it was the dumbest thing I had ever come up with. My mom can say that with authority, because she has been present for many of my stupid ideas. After she observed a training class, she turned to me with tears in her eyes and said she was on board 100%.
The place that trained John Boy, Sam's service dog, uses a Habitat for Humanity approach to placing dogs. The cost of training a service dog is about $30,000. Nope, I didn't mistakenly add an extra 0. That is the real cost. Many organizations place dogs with no obligation on the family's part. I applaud those places and am happy for those recipients. The organization that placed John Boy with us, asks that families take part in fundraising. I was asked to raise $12,000. Some people hear that and gasp at the amount. I was happy for the opportunity to do it because I knew that I could raise awareness at the same time. In 2006, autism was not on everyone's lips the way it is today. I wanted that to change.
With my goal in mind, I started my own one woman little media blitz. I was interviewed by the local T.V. news. I set up a website and did mailings. Friends sponsored a raffle and walk. I even participated in a community garage sale in a town 45 minutes away. What really helped me not just reach my goal, but exceed it by $6,000 was an article in the Enquirer.
John wanted to do a "day in the life" kind of story about a family dealing with autism. I can't even remember now the details of how he found us. Or we found him. I just know he spent far more than a day with us. It can be kind of intimidating to give a stranger access to your personal life. Especially when there are parts you can barely look at yourself. John was wonderfully respectful of me and all of my children. He spent countless hours with us. He joined us at Target, the mall, speech therapy appointments and even a family dinner. In some ways it was emotionally draining. In many ways it was truly cathartic. The article is a full page that captured a very challenging time in our family's history. I had the article framed. It's actually kind of huge. When we moved into my parents' house, there simply wasn't room for it. It spent 5 years in storage, patiently waiting to be remembered.
When I retrieved it on moving day this past summer, I had kind of forgotten about it. Not that it existed, but what it said. More than that, I had forgotten the details of my life. When I hung it on the wall, I stood back and read the article again for the first time in many years. It made me cry. I wasn't sad for myself. I was sad for the family in the article and the struggles they had. The child in the article who is nothing like the one I live with today. Then I thought of all the changes that have taken place since the article was published. The fact that I am now part of the greater than 85% divorce rate of families with autism. I no longer live in that home where Sam used to get lost in cabinets, closets and, on one occasion, the dryer. I have helped develop protocols used not only at our local hospital, but also used in trainings in other pediatric hospitals around the country. The speech therapist in one of the photos is now my co-worker because I became a speech therapist too. I was interviewed on CNN. I met the love of my life along with other countless amazing people. Best of all, now when Sam runs, it's because we're exercising, NOT because he's bolted away.
Sam toured the high school today with the rest of the 8th grade class. He had a huge smile on his face the entire time I asked him questions. Later in the evening, I passed the article and thought again just how far Sam has come. How far we have all come. I'm so thankful that I have that article to capture those memories and remind me how lucky I am. How much hard work we have all put into the life we have today. How worth it that work has been.
John, over 5 years later, I am still so thankful you picked our family.
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