Sophia is making a request...
She is selling Girl Scout cookies - if you would like to place an order - please send an email leanne.morphet@gmail.com and tell me how many of which type you would like. We are willing to ship - but have to pay costs to do so out of pocket - so please consider that when purchasing. (Please note cookies are $4/box)
Sophia has a goal...
Last year Sophie (and the rest of us!) were overwhelmed with the generosity of our friends and family. Not just because she met her goal of 250 boxes sold - but we were surprised to have 42 boxes to donate to a local food pantry. Sophie is hoping to top that number of donated boxes - listen to her message above....
Sophie with her Donations in 2013 to the St. Joe's Food Pantry - Can We Top This?
One Donation Two Causes
Also
- if you don't want the cookies - but want to donate anyhow, we are
taking cookie orders and delivering them to a local food bank for
distribution - help two causes at once! Please make note when ordering.
Allergies/Intolerances/Nutrition Info
If you need nutritional and allergen information about the cookies that can be found by clicking on each cookie above.
There are several nut-free (without peanuts or tree nuts) cookies: Trefoils, Thank U Berry Munch and Thin Mints.
Little Brownie offers 8 cookie varieties - all without high fructose corn syrup.
There are no hydrogenated oils in Trefoils, Do-si-dos, Dulce de Leche, Thank U Berry Munch and Savannah Smiles.
We had Zach's 7th birthday party a little late this year. Let's just say things never stop around here and call it good for today's post.
So we invited his classmates and some old friends to a local bounce house to celebrate.
Zach had some difficulty - and went through periods of running and jumping, to periods of finding a small confined space to compress himself into and watch the others. It was interesting to mix those with special needs with those typical kids - and even more interesting to watch the families and their reactions to the situation.
I have a tendency to have extreme alternating feelings of people in general, one day thinking they are all heartless and untrustworthy and the next finding them warm and even inspiring. I feel I never just tolerate them as I know others do, it's almost always one extreme or the other. When I look at my son and his behavior at the birthday party, I have to laugh and say "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree now, does it?" I have been plagued with social anxiety since I was a kid. I see him engaged and then self isolated, and I get that.
My anxieties about social situations have certainly impacted my relationship and treatment of Zach. I have had to get over some of my baggage in order to advocate for him. (I would like to add that I certainly still have a ways to go.) When I deal with people regarding my son that are not "in the field", and even sometimes with those who are, I expect the worst. I trust no one. I feel that it is only my love that accepts who he is. I question whether the human condition is truly capable of more than just tolerating my son. Are there really those who can actually engage with him, interact with him, value him, be inspired by him?
We live in a society that defines success by achievements of superlatives. Those who do the unthinkable, the unimaginable, who break records, who produce results. The winners. There are stories of talent and determination, combined with hard work. Certainly admirable qualities. But I am often confused at how one man's dedication to himself and his craft is often construed as heroic. I think these ideas diminish the potential in the rest of us who are on other paths, and by doing so, we often times don't pursue to be the successes we were meant to be.
As my previous story indicates, I think that every one of us matters more than we realize. That's because I truly feel that every one of us has the ability to make a difference in someone else's life - that goes beyond our obligations and our own families - to extend ourselves, take a risk, do something we are unsure of or are comfortable with, for the sake of someone with whom we are not expecting anything back in return.
The thing I love about the story, is the relationship these not so disparate ordinary families make, but the fact that one family's act will now connect to them to another family for as much time as they have on this Earth. They didn't have to do it; they were under no legal requirement, nor religious imperatives, nor moral directive, nor did any logic prevail that this would offer them some equivalent in return for their efforts. It was hard, even unfair, but yet it was good. They made a huge difference in someone's life, and most when they watch that video will feel sadness and joy at the same time. That complex feeling, at odds with itself but simultaneous, culminates into what I feel is the definition of life.
So here I stand, far from the winner's circle with my dear son, Zach. At age 7, I have no idea what his future holds. It could be easy to say that he will never achieve what others will, so why try? Or I could "delude"myself that I have a genius on my hands and strive to have a best-selling novel as I chronicle our journey as others have done. There are more and more books about non-verbal children who suddenly find their way into the world with the rest of us as they learn to communicate. They have offered those of us with non-verbal children hope, which the reality of time could dash. If my son never enters the world of communicators, does that mean he has less value? Does that mean he is not a success because he never fails to overcome his obstacles to be more like the rest of us?
Back to Zach's birthday party we go:
Mother of Gabriellat to me at Zach's birthday party: "My daughter was insistent that we go to this party. I told her that we were going to get invited 20 parties, and she said that this is the one she wanted to go to. "
When Mom inquired to her daughter as to why she HAD to go to Zach's party over anyone else's,
Gabriella stated: "We have to go! Zach is special!"
Mom then asked why he was special: (not knowing of Zach's diangosis)
Gabriella replied: " Well he has autism. But he's special because he's my friend."
That mother, looked right at me with tears in her eyes, explaining that her husband was out of work, she was waiting tables at a local restaurant, and that money was tight, and said:
"Well, I realized we just had to go!"
I told her we asked for no presents, just PRESENCE. She insisted on a donation to our fundraiser.
Zach's life alone touched another person. While she told me the story, and I saw the tears well up in her eyes, I was once again in a moment of those feelings of "life", contradictory yet wondrous. Zach's very presence, no actions nor words, had made a difference in that woman's life, and in her daughter's too. He had a purpose, and they took action - extending themselves to him and to our family by attending a party that they were under no obligation to go to, and more importantly, that some people purposely would avoid. What they did mattered. A lot. Enough that I had to share this simple yet paramount story in our lives with everyone.
“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. “ –
Albert Einstein
“He who wishes to secure the good of others, has already
secured his own.” – Confucius
“An individual has not started living until he can rise
above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader
concerns of all humanity.”- Martin
Luther King, Jr
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the
service of others.” - Mohandas K. Gandhi:
While the story I am about to share is not about my son, this does
exemplify the hopes I have for others - both in them realizing the gifts
they have been given should be shared, and that bestowing those gifts
on someone else is a gift in itself - as can be seen by the young man's
tears at the end of the segment. He has learned a lesson that others
will spend a lifetime and may never experience, regardless of the number of esteemed people who have made this world a better place, and are happy for having done so, have tried to tell us.
Wide receiver Justice Miller: “He went from being a nobody,
to pretty much making everyone’s day” “I went from being someone that mostly
cared about myself and my friends to caring about everyone and trying to make
everyone’s day in everyone’s life”
The glory of making a touchdown is amazing – making the
opportunity for someone else to experience a touchdown is what life is supposed to be
about.
A newer friend of mine asked me after running into me at a local adult beverage establishment if all my relationships and associations with people were special needs based. The answer was a clear and undeniable yes. In the past, when I have attempted to engage with folks in the "typical" world - something of my unconventional life eventually brings about silence or odd looks. It's very obvious that my conversations with others make them feel uncomfortable.
I did try for a while, but the transitions were just too tough for me. It was hard to go from a conversation regarding how hard it was to manage the kids soccer schedules with swim practice to my life where there is soccer, and swimming, but also endless therapy appointments, doctor's visits, clinic appointments, special ed staff, IEPs, Medicaid, social workers, support groups, psychologists, neurologists, tantrums, 9-1-1 calls, devices, research, toileting accidents, sleep deprivation, perseverations, and elopement. You know those uppity east suburban soccer moms with their Pottery Barn homes, PTA bake sales, and shiny SUVs? I was supposed to be one of them.
My inability to relate to the general population is just part of my presence now more than ever. No where is this more self evident than in my very own family. I just really don't know how to relate anymore to those who don't have the joy of parenting to a special needs child. I cannot keep my conversation limited to not mention it. It's just not possible.
I was never a the most socially adept person to begin with, and that is important to point out. I find that even amongst the special needs families I meet up with I have difficulty understanding their perspectives. Whoever says this autism stuff doesn't have a hereditary component is plum crazy if you ask me.
So yesterday, I stood up and I fell. As simple as that. That's what happens when you become middle
aged. Doing totally normal activities throughout your day can cause grievous damage to your body. I can kind of laugh at it now - but yesterday was not so funny. When I realized how much it hurt and how large the swelling was, I cried. But not out of pain. This weeks activities flashed before my eyes - the clinic, the camp, the other camp. speech services, OT and PT - how would I get the kids to all their activities? Then it really struck me - Zach has been escaping from the house for the last 6 weeks and running away from me. That's when the panic set in. How am I going to manage to keep him safe if I am only hobbling along myself?
And that will be the surprise for the next week of our exciting lives. One single twist of the ankle, and this Mama Bear feels vulnerable beyond belief. Not normal, right? An over the top reaction for most people over just a sprained ankle. But for us folks with special needs children, the the panic of not being able to provide for your own kids, very real. Life as an outlier continues.
My kid has autism and I love him as much as I would if he didn't, maybe even more so. Loving him is the easy part. While most parents worry if their kids will be liked, make the sports team, get into a good college, find the right mate, make a good living - I forever worry if my son will be taken advantage of, or worse abused, loved or at least liked by someone after I am gone. #LowVerbal #AutismParenting #AutismAwareness
Look what I found on my side porch this afternoon! That t-shirt is supposed to be yellow, the sneaks, pink and blue.
So yesterday, I stood up and I fell. As simple as that. That's what happens when you become middle 
