Happy Birthday and Happy Ever After

A birthday is a day to celebrate you and the day you were born. It’s ALL for you. The day can be relaxing or packed full of activities. There can be parties and special dinners, cake, ice cream and presents, too. It’s a day to feel special. Your family and friends wish you to be HAPPY. They send cards, they call you on the phone, or nowadays, they text you or even send those wishes through facebook.

Today is your birthday. WOW, nine years old today. So many HAPPY birthday wishes came your way today? Did you hear them? Do you know what they mean? Do you really know how many people wished you Happy Birthday today?

Tomorrow, people will ask me, “Did he have a Happy Birthday?

As I reflect, I could say…

You appeared Happy because you slept in

You appeared Happy because you wore your pajamas all day

You appeared Happy because you got to watch

Sesame Street

all day at Nanny and Papaw’s

You appeared Happy when we sang the Happy Birthday Song to you

You appeared Happy because you got to eat cake and ice cream for dinner.

You appeared Happy while playing with your new toys and watching your new videos.

As your mother, I know you. Although you couldn’t say it with words, you showed it with your actions, with your smile and with your laughter. "Yes," I will say, "he had a Happy Birthday."

Happiness is something I pray for you everyday, not just on your birthday…anything from contentment to intense joy. I want you to feel it, to experience it, and to keep it with you all the days of your life.

Reality is that depression affects many individuals with autism, especially as they get older. With each birthday, I realize that I am not able to protect you as much as I was the year before. You are a year closer to becoming an adult and soon, you will be interacting with society on your own.

The difficulty that you have communicating your thoughts and feelings so others can understand them makes my heart ache. Most people rely on their relationships with others to have happiness. I ask myself, “Will others be able to see what makes you happy? Will they encourage your happiness, or will they steal that happiness away?”

So, as I write this snippet I pray fervently that one more person in the world will become a little more aware of the scope of autism

…. that they will know what is right in their hearts,

…..that they will truly know and respect that EVERYONE has a RIGHT to be HAPPY.
Not just on their birthday, but everyday of their lives.