How do I translate pain into love?
Autism.
You came into this world with it, and you will leave this world with it.
More importantly, what you have chosen to do with it has changed my heart forever.
You have fought harder than anyone I know.
You never gave up, and through the struggle and tears you always chose to fight for yourself...you taught me how to fight for myself and my happiness.
I have never seen such a beautiful soul.
Thank you for showing a jaded self how to find the beauty in life.
You believe in happily ever after, in the magic of life...especially when I had given up on it.
You actually stop to smell the roses and skip while you run...you helped me slow down and live.
You love interaction with people no matter how brief it is...when in the past I would avoid most strangers, I now welcome the small talk.
The ways you have touched my heart and opened my mind are endless.
You saved me in more ways I can communicate...ironic since I am the one who can talk, you speak worlds more than I ever could.
Through your sheer presence in my life I have no choice but to be better.
So just as I have been trying for the past 9 years, I will continue to do better every day.
For you, and for the example you have already set in such a brief time.
I will continue to bring awareness of your life, your struggles, and show the gift of learning from them.
You get enough hardships out there in your playground of life.
I've seen you treated cruelly by your peers, called harsh names.
Yet through it all you came out shining...you believed in happily ever after.
If I didn't know better I would think you had already lived twenty lifetimes, and I was blessed to have you in this one.
So today, and every day I will "Light it up Blue", Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Indigo...
Someday others too will see your beautiful rainbow as I do.
San Juan Capistrano, CA