For Good

"I am the destined one.  It chose me."

This is what TJ just said about a four leaf clover we have laminated and on our fridge.  I can't remember how old TJ was - little, like 5 - when he was standing in grass, looked down, bent over and popped back up with this 4 leaf clover in his hand.  I remember Sean and I looking at each other when this happened - no words passed between us - and we both almost cried.

It's one of those meant-to-be moments...we knew that there is something about this kid and somehow, somewhere, he is being looked after.

I wrote in an earlier post about TJ's friend, and how he is what we call "a TJ Champion".  I can't tell you how many Champions we have found and how they each have given a piece of themselves to our boy.  And how our boy would not be doing as well as he is doing if it were not for these Champions.  These people are Early Interventionists, EEE Teachers, Instructional Assistants, Classroom Teachers, Speech-Language Pathologists, Autism Interventionists, Special Educators, PE Teachers, Art Teachers, Music Teachers, Behavior Interventionists, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, PCAs (Personal Care Assistants), School Principals, Guidance Counselors, friends, kids of friends, family, Pediatricians, Psychologists, Psychiatrists.....did I leave anyone out?  It seems that when it comes to people working with TJ, and helping us with TJ, planets have aligned and miracles have happened.  We have worked, and do work, with the best of the best.  These people have given us our son.

These are the Champions...all of them.

When TJ left his elementary schools,  I gave his teachers a printing of these lyrics from the song "For Good" from the musical "Wicked":

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

I do believe I have been changed for the better
And because I knew you
I have been changed

For good

 

-Stephen Schwartz

Because of TJ's Champions, our entire family has been changed.

For good.