It's My Bloggiversary!!!

What was I thinking?!?!? 137 posts. Over 5,000 Tweets. Now Facebook. Hard to believe one year ago today I stepped out of my comfort zone and dove hands first into the world of social media. “To Blog or Not to Blog”…that was my first post.

What started out as a venue to share our early adventures with Riley and autism has taken more than a few detours along the way. One thing for sure…my memory is not what it used to be. Fortunately, like child birth, as time passes you begin to forget about the pain and tend to remember only the good stuff…which is definitely a good thing in my case.

Riley is 18. Believe it or not there are times now when it is hard for me to remember exactly how I felt in that moment when he was little and having a meltdown or not sleeping or having health issues or the frustration of not being able to communicate with him. OK so maybe I can easily remember a few times recently where we had a communication breakdown or miscommunication or just plain confusion.  Oish.

So while I can still relate to the challenges as well as celebrate the accomplishments of so many young families just starting out on their own adventures with autism...something has changed for me. I do understand and empathize with these families yet I am no longer there “in the trenches” with them.

Would I have ever thought that Riley would be able to sit in a desk at school without being glued down?  That would most definitely be no.

Would I have ever thought we would be able to go to a restaurant and actually have a somewhat leisurely meal? Hmmmm...nope.

Would I have ever thought that as a family we would be able to fly (no less) to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico of all places?  Never in a million years.  

Sure there were accommodations that had to be made. Sure for every step we went forward there were a few steps back. Yet Riley did it. We, with the help of so many, did it. The proof…I have way more salt than pepper hair and G has no hair. 

This coming year will be an interesting one. Riley will be graduating from high school and we are entering into a new and changing phase. What I hope going forward is that our adventures will be able to provide a little encouragement, some information and most definitely a lot of humour.

Where Riley was and where he is today…indescribable. Where he will be in the future...well that is the million dollar question. 

Image Source

Thank you for giving me a place to air our dirty laundry share our family’s experiences in Riley World!  

Cheers, DI