What is love? Or even a love story?
I guess we all know the traditional one. The stereotypical one.
But I know a better one.
A friendship.
My son Cooper is 14 years old. He is what they call…nonspeaking. See, at three years old they told me he had autism. And then around age six the professionals told me he would most likely never speak. And somewhere along that way, a daycare provider told me he would never make a friend.
I’ll never forget it. It’s one of those moments who made me who I am today. Her prediction hardened my heart to the world while softening my heart for my son and others like him.
I told myself it didn’t matter if she was right. Because he would have me and his dad and his siblings.
Flash forward to a few years back.
Dexter met Cooper. They were in adjacent classes at school.
They shared the same diagnosis but yet their autism profiles looked nothing alike.
Dexter spoke. He played sports. He was social and active. Cooper is nonverbal.
He prefers an iPad to anything active with home being his happy place.
Dexter felt like sunshine to me.
And Dexter forged a friendship with my son. He doesn’t know this, but he healed some of the parts of me that were broken.
Would Cooper understand? I didn’t know.
Today, Cooper asks for Dexter. By name. He says very few words. Only the ones that really matter to him.
He asks for him. He wants to know if Dexter will be where we are going. He wants to call him. And he runs to him when he sees him.
A while back the rules of this so-called friendship changed again.
Dexter now uses a wheelchair and communicates with a speech device. But Cooper doesn’t care. Because they are best friends. Always will be.
There are not a lot of things I know in this life. Very few really. But I can say with certainty that these boys, (and Peyton) will have each other forever.
I am so thankful for this friendship. And this boy.
Finding Cooper’s Voice is a safe, humorous, caring and honest place where you can celebrate the unique challenges of parenting a special needs child. Because you’re never alone in the struggles you face. And once you find your people, your allies, your village….all the challenges and struggles will seem just a little bit easier. Welcome to our journey. You can also follow us on Facebook.
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