Life after loss with autism, preemies and a rainbow baby
In the beginning it was the minutes, the hours, the months. I tried to remember every detail, the weight of her in my arms, the almost-blue of her eyes, the shape of her eyelids as they closed. I felt panic rise as the days passed and memories blurred, I couldn’t forget a thing. She was […]
I shared this story several years ago but wanted to share it again because it’s such an important issue and because I’m working with AngelSense to help tackle the issue of autism and wandering. One of my closest friends has two boys with autism. I have watched her unload them from her vehicle, clinging to one while holding her […]
Most mornings Parker wakes up at the sound of my laptop opening. He flops into the living room bleary eyed and I close my laptop before it gets a chance to buzz alive. I tug him close as he changes the channel from Good Morning America to the one full of superhero names I can’t remember. After he […]
This afternoon I carried Sawyer to the car without shoes, Parker and McKenna ran behind. I told them they didn’t need to grab their coats, just hurry, hurry, hurry. Ashlyn ran out with headphones dangling from one pocket, trying to stuff a cell phone into the other. A phone call two minutes prior had shot us into […]
This week is Infertility Awareness Week. Did you know? I didn’t until I saw it on Facebook. But years ago I would have known. I would have been the poster woman for infertility treatments. Stomach like a pin-cusion, bruised arms from bloodwork, waving my sign for better insurance coverage and more research. And then our treatments finally […]
Sawyer has this sing-song-y way he says “love you” that is so sweet I can hear it in my mind as I type. He strings out the “you” at the end while he looks at you like you are the greatest being on his planet. Sometimes he says it over and over before bed because he’s so […]
A few years ago I blogged about one the first heart-wrenching conversation I had with my children after they asked a question about their sister. I received a nasty comment from a reader telling me that if I had not been “selfish” and told them about their sister I would not have to talk to them […]
It happened innocently enough. I was posting a new photo of Parker in one of his costumes to Instagram and tagging it to #Parkerpretends. Parker was watching over my shoulder and saw several names show up as “likes” underneath his picture. A photo posted by Jessica Watson (@fourplusanangel) on Mar 16, 2016 at 5:33pm PDT […]
Last night at the grocery store the woman three overflowing carts in front of me was having some issues at the register. I have no idea what was going on because I was too far away to hear but I know her groceries were mostly scanned and situated in her cart and she wasn’t leaving lane 15. […]
Before my life as a stay-at-home mom/writer/taxi driver, I was the director of an autism center. I had the privilege of watching countless children and teens on the spectrum come in and out of our doors every day. One of my favorite teens was a boy with Asperger’s. He was broad and tall for his […]
