Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Broken Buildings, Broken Cars, Broken Dreams, and a Broken Heart

The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, A.K.A. "The Broken Building" and a broken car up on "jacks"












Around here we hear a lot about broken things. We hear about broken buildings, broken cars, and broken ceilings on a daily, often hourly basis. You may be asking yourself, "Huh?" Well this is because our 5 year old son Nolan has autism. So along with this disorder comes obsessions and fixations. He has many of them, right now it's broken things. We often have to drive certain routes to see broken cars. Yes folks, there happens to be a car up on jacks down the road that has been that way for a month. I live in rural Kansas, what do you expect!? So sometimes it's just worth it to go that extra mile, literally, to please him. He often asks for so little, and he takes joy in such simple things. When we heard the word Autism, our hearts and dreams for him were broken. Now, we are building new dreams for him. He is such a jolly freckly faced fellow, and we couldn't imagine him any other way. I personally am trying to choose the path of hope and optimism, instead of the path of bitterness and what could have beens. So let me introduce you to one of the joys of my life, Nolan.

2 comments:

Jen said...

He is a sweet boy; what a beautiful picture of him. 13 years down the road, graduation day... I bet he will make you proud!

Libby said...

Nolan would have loved my old house...my nephew Jacob (then age two) loved to come to my house and find all the "joken" (read broken) things. I love the way you are embracing things right where they are - without all the regrets and what-ifs. You have a lot more time to enjoy what you have! Thanks for inspiring me!