A Woman's Work – Brooke Basically Blogging

Autism has had our family on a routine for years.  I guess I should be grateful for that.  Because of autism we stick to the schedule and plan events accordingly.

Last week we were waiting for the bus.  It was raining hard that day.  I knew that the rain could be a trigger for Sydney.  It may upset her, but not show up until later in the day.  Sydney will respond in one of two ways.  She will look like Mary Poppins singing Chim Chim Cheree.  Or she will experience sensory overload.

This particular morning, she was Mary Poppins.  I was trying to get gift cards ready for the bus driver and bus aide.  My plan was to walk them out to the bus myself. I really wanted to thank them for taking great care of the kids.

We were moving fast.  Sydney was singing in the rain. I was trying to hurry and not get my hair wet. And Harrison was bringing up the rear.  My kids rushed on the bus with the hustle and bustle of umbrellas and my gift exchange. With the rain hitting my face as the bus drove away.  I realized that I did not kiss my kids goodbye.

I started to panic.  Syd was used to a routine, would no kiss from mommy be a trigger?  Maybe I was the one having all of the difficulty the kids probably didn’t remember.  I started thinking about how life can change in an instant.  One day your world is safe and the next day something happens that changes your life forever.

It reminded me to always tell people I love them.  Always say I am sorry even it hurts.  Life is precious and so are the people in our lives.  I felt like I was missing something.  I remembered the scripture that says for this child I prayed.  We all know that scripture. But how many of us still keep reading?  The rest of the verses talk about how our kids are on loan to us from God.  That is a hard concept to understand for a mother to think about her children. Read 1 Samuel 1: 27-28 when you have a moment.

I decided to text Harrison.  It wasn’t a kiss goodbye it was more like a virtual kiss.  Thank goodness for technology.  I felt better knowing that I took the time to reach out to my kids before I went to work.  Tomorrow isn’t promised.  If there is one thing I have learned over the past six years is that I don’t take anything for granted.

A simple kiss, a note, a phone call or a text. It doesn’t matter what method you use.  The important thing is that you reach out to your loved ones. Don’t wait until tomorrow to tell them how much you care about them.  We never know what the next day will bring.