Cows

I used to play with the baby cows..calves?..when I, and they, were young. One time, I some-how included that phrase, or self-declaration, into an answer during an interview.

I ended up getting that job, fyi.

Two years later, I find myself dreading the thought of leaving it behind in the near future. Now, if you were to have asked or talked with me about three to four weeks ago, I'd have been singing a whole different tune.

Like all of our (yours) jobs, mine too, is stressful. That is putting it in the simplest of terms. Not only do I work on part of a multi-professional team (happy hour tends to be needed hourly), I work with children who are, have been, or will be diagnosed with developmental disabilities. Primarily, these children are diagnosed with Autism.

I know the formal basics of what Autism is, but like the rest of the professional mental health arena, I cannot answer how or why.

What I do know, is that usually for one to two seconds during a one hour meeting with a client, I am able to be part of their world. And that world, is so safe. And it just so happened today, when I was able to walk through that door, I was playing with cow puppets.

I really could not stop the tears, but I did try to stop the snort (this lovely trait, flows from the maternal side of my genetic lining...). And when the kids mom asked why, and if I was OK, all I could muster up was a nod of my pony-tail.

It's one thing when you can teach your kid how to drive a car. If you get that far, I think you should be counting your lucky stars. My kids, because yes, I have adopted them all in my heart, probably will never get to that point. So when I can teach them that a puppet of a cow says "moo moo moo" and does like to sing "footloose" (dancing cows, kids, and Jayme fell in love with Kevin Bacon all over again..), I feel that I should bless those beautiful stars.

And I did.

And I will continue to do so, for as long as I am able to do just that.

To all those that I have met, and will meet, I can honestly say that I do not know who I would be today, if I had not been introduced to your world. And for that, I thank you.