May 28th....The Best Day of 1999!!

Happy 20th Birthday Callahan Leigh Payne, my Lone Ranger. My special boy who has taught me more about life than anyone or anything I've ever known. You have taught me the importance of being in the moment, not taking anything for granted and celebrating accomplishments that may not seem like much to most but are the world to us. I can still remember vividly the first time you let me kiss you without being annoyed and wiping it away, the first time you got into a pool after watching from afar for so long, the first time wrote your name between the tiny lines on the notebook paper, the first time you got new shoes before August, the first time you willingly wore a coat, the first time you didn't sleep with your shoes on, the first time you sat in a chair calmly for a haircut, the first time you went to school without a diaper, and many more. You may not have done these things in a typical time frame, but you did them; and you worked a lot harder than most of us to accomplish them. You may not have gotten invited to many birthday parties, learned to drive, graduated high school (yet); but you have impacted every single person, who has taken the time to get to know you, in the best possible way. You make us all better. You have shaped our family into who we are and made us all passionate about true inclusion, unconditional love, and appreciating the every day things. I remember the day you asked me what was wrong with you. I was so taken aback, but you looked so seriously in my eyes waiting for an answer. I've thought about that day a lot, and the answer is always the same...nothing! Nothing is wrong with you. You have Autism and Fragile X, but nothing is wrong with you. It is a big part of who you are, but it is not who you are. You are as valuable and remarkable as every person, and truthfully we all have something. We are all on the spectrum somewhere. The sooner we all realize that about ourselves and others, the better we will be able to love each other; and the better place the world will be. I have learned this greatest life lesson from you. To be honest, I think you are more of the type of person God had in mind when He created humans. He is pleased with you.
I took this photo yesterday. I spent a few minutes trying to shoot it without my reflection in it. Then I realized that seeing myself in you and you in me is a wonderful wonderful thing. Happy Bday My Beautiful Boy! I adore you!