April Walks With Autism

So wow. People are starting to read my blog. So for those of you out there who don't know me personally, here's the abc's on who I am, today anyway.

a- April, it’s my name.. or so they tell me. In any given day I don’t hear it too much. Everyone I know has a nickname for me, including Myra who calls me, “Hooker,” Jeff who calls me, “Pet” (it’s a joke), and of course the name I’m called the most is….”MOM!!!!!!!” I would be remiss if I didn’t include autism under “a.” So I will say ~ autism: it’s part of my life but doesn’t define my life.

b- Boys. I gave birth to two and married one so I’m outnumbered!

c- Chiropractor. I’m one of “those.” I’m addicted. I love mine. He made my headaches go away. Without meds. And I used to get A LOT of headaches. Also? Candy. I friggen love it. The sugary kind like nerds or runts or gummy bears or orange tic tacs or gobstoppers. It’s really good for my 6 pack abs.

d- Doctors. I have the utmost respect for them (see: C). Dr. Edward Bove at the University of Michigan spent almost 6 hours repairing a heart the size of a walnut that had all of it’s arteries backwards and several holes in it. That heart belongs to my son Jared, and it’s one of the best hearts I will ever hope to know. When he was done with Jared’s surgery, there were 4 more families in the waiting room that he had to work on next. Wow. There are no words. Just ……… none. OH! And DANCE! I love to dance. Just the "let it all out," "get your groove on," "work it out!," "get down with your bad self," kind of dancing. Don't get to do it nearly enough so I usually just make up reasons to.

e- Expectations. I think I have a problem with them. I set them too high. Sometimes, people I encounter fall short quite often and it breaks my heart. I don’t mean too, I just think things like common courtesy and respect should be expected of people. Call me crazy.

f- Frogs! I love them, I have a little collection of them. It’s a little private joke because I grew up WAY in the country and the first time my nana (see: N) spent the night at our house, she couldn’t figure out what the he** all that noise was. Frogs. In the pond. Then she and I had a frog thing going on and I’ve kept it alive, for her. They always remind me of her.

g- noun: My mom. Her name is Grace. My staunchest supporter. My children’s staunchest supporter. verb: something we should offer to each other more often.

h- Howard Stern Truth: It’s a phrase we use in our house to refer to the absolute truth. First I have to admit, I have a crush on Howard Stern. You heard me, a crush. Because his brutal truth, honesty, and willingness to unabashedly and unapologetically say what everyone else is thinking is ridiculously sexy. And that’s where the Howard Stern truth came from. No BS, just tell it like it is. (See also: Q)

i- Irie. It’s a Jamaican slang word meaning: to be at total peace with your current state of being. The way you feel when you have no worries. Several years ago there was a 1-800 dial a crystal ball commercial going around and the woman reading your future said, “Everyting gonna be irie.” Then Brad Pitt said it in Meet Joe Black when he turned into a Jamaican woman (really?) and it’s become sort of a joke in my family and yet we tend to say it in our darkest hours and it somehow makes everything seem….irie.

j- Jared, my 8 year old. He is my heart.

k- My middle name. No really, it’s Kay. After my Nana (see: N) whose name was Catherine but everyone called her “Kay.”

l- Luke, my 5 year old. He is my soul.

m- Motherhood. The greatest gift I’ve ever been given.

n- Nana. Mine. She was my favorite person in the whole world. She died 10 years ago and I miss her every single day. And I’m still mad at her for leaving this world before she got to meet my beautiful children and share this journey with me.

o- Opinions. I have a lot of them. And I’ll tell you about them anytime you ask me to. But here’s the thing: I know you do too, and I’ll always respect that. God Bless America.

p- The first of two Babs quotes: “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”

q- Question. Don’t ask me one if you don’t want the answer. I will always answer a question in the most honest, open, obvious way that I can. That’s just me. (See: H)

r- Read. I love to. I read a lot of books about autism and education and important “stuff.” But the dirty truth is that I LOVE to read chic lit and romance and brain candy at the end of the day to just turn my mind off. I can blast through a book in a day if it’s decent. I won’t be able to tell you a single characters name within 24 hours of reading it, but while I’m in the moment, I’m lost and sometimes~that’s just where I want to be.

s- Silly. I really am. I love to be, I have to be, it’s part of my existence. Here’s another quote I love, “He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.” Ok actually that was in a fortune cookie but I kept it and have it taped to my fridge.

t- Time. I really wish I had more of it. Teacher. Really wish I had become one. I still might.

u- Underwear. Luke ALWAYS wears it backwards. He KNOWS it is backwards and he doesn’t care. I have to say, it’s really cute. He always has at least one cheek hanging out. Oh, and they are usually inside out to boot.

v- Volunteer. I think I do way to much of it, but I can’t stop. If I have something to give, I want to give it. I do a ton of work with Autism Speaks and the TN Walk Now for Autism, as well as forming a support group here in Spring Hill and working at my children’s schools... a lot.

w- “whatever” ranks up there with one of my favorite words. Sometimes, there’s just nothing else to say.

x- rated thoughts about Justin Timberlake and Robert Pattinson. Sorry. I’m 12 at heart, what can I say? OK in this case, 16?

y- Yentl. Yes, Yentl. The Barbra Streisand movie. Shut up. I love this quote: “The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”

z- ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I wish I could get more of them.