Saturday, June 14, 2008

Good Bye To Auntie Terrie










We went to see Taylor today. We went with Terrie, and Amanda and Spencer were able to come with us also, so it was the whole family.

It was wonderful to see Taylor. They let us through one set of doors, and if you look down the hall, you can see another set with a small window in it. There we saw Taylor standing. Carlie, when she sees him in the small window always squeals and gets excited. It is wonderful to watch her excitement as much as it is to see how happy he is to see her.

Today was a hard day. We were there to obviously see Taylor, but Terrie is about to move back to Los Angeles to be near her family and further her education. We met Terrie through my husband's job at the college. She soon just captured our hearts with her love of people and her sweet and gentle soul. She is Carlie's God Mother, but she is more than that, she is Ohana. She is family. We did not want her to leave and Taylor not be able to say good bye. Remember, he doesn't communicate well, so, his good bye can be harder for him than ours.

We took a picnic lunch and Auntie Terrie made shrimp tempura which is one of Taylor's favorites, along with ours also. We took turkey wraps and fried chicken, a couple salads, and chips. We took soda. Taylor didn't eat a thing. He said his throat hurt. He slept in the sun a lot! Carlie was by his side.

Before the picnic, we were able to go to the gym to play for a bit. Usually he has such a wonderful time there, yet today, he opened a door for fresh air and just sat at the door. Auntie Terrie went and sat by him. It was good....

We decided it was good for us to leave somewhat early as he was so tired and I think that he was running a fever. We had to get some family photos first of all, and so we did. He was patient as you could tell that he would rather be doing other things.

Then, we sat at a table and had to talk to him about Auntie Terrie and this being her last time to see him before she moves. It was heart breaking. He started crying, but would not look at her too much. I told him how it was so okay to cry. I told him when it came to times like this, it is also okay to tell people how they feel. He didn't talk too much, but he did turn to her, and I am not too sure if they even made eye contact, but, he said, I will miss you. My heart hurt for him. My heart hurt for her. My heart hurt for me! He said good bye to her on the unit again.

I am so glad that he had that chance to say good bye to her today. I am so glad he cried and felt some emotion, but I am so proud he could verbalize he would miss her.

Auntie Terrie, we love you, forever. I thank you for being a part of our family and I appreciate you being a part of Taylor's life as well as the girls! Ohana! Family!
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Autism tip of the day! When there is a melt down or a fit thrown, it can be from something several hours, and even days before. There are times that they internalize things and they don't know how to react to them at the moment so it takes time for the feelings to come out.


1 comment:

Didi said...

How wonderful that he was able to feel those emotions and is learning to express them. Proof positive that you made the right choice having him where he is! Go Taylor!