Dear Addie,
Life is full of emotions. I myself think I’m an emotional mess most of the time because I can cry at the drop of a hat! Seriously! But don’t be fooled, it’s not always for a sad reason. Sometimes it's out of happiness, pride, joy or love. Experiences, or even simple words can trigger an emotional response in just about anyone - not just your over emotional mama ;).
Take “I love you” for example. It’s amazing how these three little words can create a different emotional response at very different moments in our lives.
As kids we find a sense of security in “I love you” when our parents tell us.
As parents, we melt with pride and joy when our kids say “I love you” to us.
As adults with husbands or wives, our heart flutters to hear “I love you” because there’s no one else you’d rather spend forever with.
Just 3 little words.
While those words are probably the most popular of the three word phrases people want to hear in life, there are plenty more.
I know this one is hard for you to believe, but there was a time in the early internet years that we couldn’t wait to hear three other little words: “you’ve got mail!” It’s funny to think you’ll never know the feeling that came with those words.
You see Addie, unlike today where our phones can unlock themselves just by recognizing our faces and our emails are easily accessed by just clicking an app (side note: it’s crazy how fast technology got us to this point). There was a time when getting an email was truly exciting. There was so much anticipation when you heard “you’ve got mail!” How many emails did I get? Who were they from? Were they anxiously waiting on the other end for my response and hearing those three little words back at them? Those three words eventually disappeared and now if my email could talk to me it’d say “too much mail!”
All joking aside, over the years more three word phrases would trigger yet more emotional responses. One specifically sticks out defining the trajectory of our journey today, “she has autism.”
Fast forward to today, there’s a new three word phrase that I didn’t realize I was waiting to hear so badly, or that they would prompt such an emotional response when I heard them.
Allow me to explain.
Addie, life is full of so many unknowns. We can plan until our hearts are content, but at the end of the day, life is gonna happen, and we don’t get to call all the shots.
When we are little we are often asked what we want to be when we grow up. Some folks follow through on those childhood dreams, but others may change their mind and then change their minds again. Sometimes we are dealt cards that influence our eventual journey & that is OK too!
On our journey, we are still waiting to find out what you want to be when you grow up. Realistically we may be waiting for that answer for quite some time still. While we were waiting, we knew we needed to have some sort of plan just in case those words never came.
The harsh reality of raising special needs children is that you may never decide what you want to be when you grow up and may never be truly ready to leave our home. And don’t get me wrong, we love you the whole world full and would love to have you with us everyday, but our bodies and minds may not have the capabilities to give you all you may need one day to keep you safe, happy and thriving in this beautiful life.
That’s where your amazing little autism camp, Camp Bluebird at 3 Bluebirds Farm comes in.
When we joined this camp a few years ago now, we had no idea just how special they would become, not only us, but our autism community as a whole.
Their camp was the answer we were looking for when I had nowhere to turn at the end of the school year, and our structured routine was about to hit the chaos of summer. The stars aligned and we were welcomed with open arms to 3 Bluebirds Farm. Guess what - I cried. Shocker right?!
I have to believe everything happens for a reason, because their bigger vision was something we didn’t know we’d be searching for at this point in our lives.
You see Addie while the structure, education, life skills and play they provide for you during camp is priceless, they have a bigger picture, and for good reason! One day you’ll be an adult that might need more than just camp services.
Living through this journey I can tell you that we get hyper focused on all the “right now” stuff, that we either forget or maybe hope we won’t have to worry about some big things yet on the horizon.
The consistent piece of all mankind is - we grow up. Aging is something we can’t push the pause button on. It’s fun, exciting and a little scary to experience life as an adult, but eventually the day comes and before you know it you’re in a new routine far from someone asking you what you wanna be when you grow up.
For autistic adults who have aged out of local school services, this time comes with an extra dose of complicated and (dare I say) level of scariness. Recognizing this, 3 Bluebirds Farm has a vision to offer a planned residential farm community with up to 20 on-site residents and full-time caregivers. Resident homes will house 4-5 individuals with 2-3 staff members in each location. Here they will also continue to offer the same day-camp, summer, and track-out programs for school-aged children with autism that we’ve grown to love so much.
Pretty cool right?!? But you might be thinking, why a farm?
Well there are many therapeutic benefits of life and work on a farm that has been studied and documented for years. It provides a safer, quieter environment, and many opportunities for exercise (and fresh air!) and gives individuals with autism a chance to do meaningful, purposeful work, while creating a sense of accomplishment.
Everyone in life has something they can give Addie. There is immense joy that comes from giving and feeling helpful to someone. Sometimes it just takes something (or someone) special to come a long and unlock our gifts and ambition.
This weekend mommy and daddy attended yet another amazing annual Bluebird Ball for our beloved camp. Here parents, friends and supporters of their vision and community come together to raise money for this special project, all while having a much deserved night out as just adults. Well, fancy adults really - I don’t always wear ball gowns on date nights (hmmmm maybe I should change that though?).
Every year there is a blue champagne toast to celebrate and this year there were 3 little words...
“We’ve got land!”
Words that could mean nothing to the average person, brought me to tears. Tears of joy baby girl!
We’ve got land. Those three little words were so much more than just words, they were hope. Hope that in this journey with so much unknown that it was somehow going to be all OK.
We have hope.
I love you Addie.
Mom
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