Enlightening My Son, One Conversation at a Time.

“Mom?”

“Yes honey?”

“Do you think Andrew will ever talk?”

“Well, babe, he already does, in his own little way.”

“No.  I mean talk, like you and I.”

“I don’t know baby.  We’re working really hard to help him with that, but it’s not as easy for him as it is for us.”

“I know.  I just wish it were easier.”

“Well honey, Let me see if I can explain it to you in a way that you can understand and relate to.  Okay.  It’s like, imagine if you had a backpack and it was filled with ginormous rocks and you had to carry it on your back while you walked uphill on a dusty road in the middle of the hot summer sun and you were really thirsty and didn’t have anything to drink and also mosquitoes the size of baseballs were attacking you and you had sand in your eyes and you were barefoot. There would be a pack of hungry dogs chasing you and rattlesnakes would hide behind big boulders and hiss at you.  And when you finally got to the top of the hill, you’d look around and realize that there were hundreds of hills just like it that you would have to climb too.  And it would take you months to get up all of those hills and you would really miss your friends and family and no one could hear your cries in the lonely and all-consuming darkness.  You’d curse the day you were born and shake your fist at God, wailing ‘why me, Lord, why have you forsaken me?’   Doesn’t sound like much fun right?  Well, that’s how it is with Andrew when he tries to talk.  It’s super hard for him, and not much fun.”

“………………mommy?……………….”

“yes, pumpkin?”

“I’m so scared.”