Dear Addie,
We’ve spent the last 6 years running this elementary school marathon, and here we are in our final sprint to it all being a memory. For the record, I’m a mess, but I digress…
Addie, you did it, baby girl!
You graduated elementary school, and not only did you graduate but you also offered our family another first being the only one of our kids to follow the elementary school trajectory from start to finish at the same school! Clara and Gabe had switched schools through moves and such, but you my dear have been an Oakview Owl from day 1 and a proud one at that!
I still remember your first evaluation for public preschool back in Texas. It was literally our first taste of how the next handful of years would go trying to make the right choice & fit of services for you. If I’m being honest, this leg of the race was not even on my radar during that time. It literally seemed like a million years away, yet here we are.
In a world where advocating is a full-time job, I can honestly say perhaps luck was with us, but on this marathon we never felt like it was us vs. them. It was always One Team, One Dream from the beginning. An administration so solidly behind getting you all that you needed, giving us in return an overwhelmingly blessed feeling in a life of its nature being predictably unpredictable. Change and adapt, write and rewrite they never gave up on you. After every IEP meeting, I left feeling confident you were where you needed to be and an appropriately challenging yet obtainable plan was in place.
…and here we are – graduating.
There have been so many people on this journey that got not only you but us where we are today. I remember feeling incredibly sad and anxious dropping you off on your first day of school. There were balloons, music, bright colors, a sea of children and parents, busses, a giant mascot owl – every sensory assault possible in one spot. I watched parents happily getting that first day of school picture with all their smiling eager faces and all I could think about was – we didn’t fit in here, were we making the right choice? Maybe we should’ve just homeschooled? Was this exposure in that ever so popular “exposure is key” autism advice really necessary? We should probably just go home.
Against every fiber of my being, we proceeded to head toward the masses to meet your teacher that day. She happily greeted our weary selves and quickly ushered you inside past all the chaos – it was a real “rip the band-aid off” move that I’d later realize was exactly what needed to happen. I went to my car and cried for a solid 10 minutes after that. I was exhausted from my emotions and I could only imagine how you had felt. Now having said all that, I’m happy to report we’ve come a long way from me crying in the car – thank goodness.
Every year got better and yet every day in the past 6 years there were things that were wildly the same. For example, after school I always ask the same question to all of you, “How was school today?!” and every day you simply provide the same echolalic response of “How was school today?!” Nothing more, nothing less. That in itself should tell anyone the amount of trust we put in our special ed teachers. Nonverbal and minimally verbal children can not tell us what goes on all day. The communication level between parent and teacher is at a whole different level, it just has to be.
And here we are.
You went from holding a bright-colored ring rope to get to class to walking by yourself in a sea of kids making your way to where you needed to be - of course not without making a detour into the library once in a while 😉…
How do we thank someone for this chapter of our journey? How do you thank someone for looking after my heart with such care all these years? How do you thank someone for truly believing and never wavering in their confidence in you? I’m not really sure there’s anything that could truly show our appreciation in the value for which we are grateful, but I hope at the end of the day when we’ve crossed the finish line of this marathon that every single person that got us here will feel the win as we do.
It's because of so many dedicated, loving people and all your hard work that this owl is ready to fly the nest.
We are so very proud of you Ad.
Here's to the next chapter!
Love,
Mom
Comments