Another proud moment in our household

Last night was our son's graduation.  School life for him has been a huge struggle.  His peers didn't understand that his being different because of Aspergers didn't mean he was less than them.  This led to years of bullying and the resulting anxiety, depression and social isolation that accompany it.  As a parent, it has been crushing at times.  We struggled to know what was the right thing to do and when.  There was never a clear picture or path, so we muddled through, pushed forward and kept our fingers crossed.  

Yet, we persevered and made it to this day.  I haven't seen him as happy about anything in a long time. He recognizes that he accomplished something big here and, rightly so, is proud of himself.  We have a lot of people we owe a debt of gratitude for helping us get here.  I was able to capture three of them last night:

This is Mrs. Fellenbaum, his case manager for the last years at the high school.  She has been there to help him navigate his day to day while inside the walls of the school.  She helped me by keeping me informed and in contact with his teachers.  She is a saint.



This is Dr. Kusik his tutor since last summer.  She worked with him to help him shine this year.  She gave him confidence that he lacked and as a result, this child who English was the bane of his existence, had straight A's this year in this class.  He excelled at writing the various papers he was assigned.  He has asked for her help in writing a book and getting it self published as his graduation present.




This amazing woman is Ms. Rose.  She was our daycare provider for 12 years.   She helped raise both of our kids to be the incredible people they are today.  She was a shoulder I cried on many times.  We were truly blessed when God put her in our lives.




And a couple more because I'm loving these images.  My husband graduated from the same school as our children in 1983.  His mother put away his cap and tassel.  I didn't even know we had it here in the house until he pulled it out last night.  How cool is this?



And finally, I found another favorite from long ago and put it together with his cap.  That face still makes me melt.



Now, I get to breathe for 2 weeks and then it will be all about the wedding