To Those Of You

To those of you who have ever brushed your child:
To those of you who have mastered the art of swinging another human being without assistance or apparatus:
To those of you whose purses and pockets are loaded with disaster-prevention stimmy objects:
To those of you who have mastered the geography of this scary new world:

You are not alone.

To those of you brave enough to wear your hearts on your sleeves:
To those of you kind enough to lend a shoulder when needed:
To those of you strong enough to take on the nay-sayers:
To those of you sure enough to stand your ground:

Thank you.

To those of you who have fought for the rights of your children as well as others:
To those of you who have found ways to adapt the world to fit your child’s needs:
To those of you who have become advocates for these special little people:
To those of you who have jumped in with both feet and never looked back:

You are not alone.

To those of you eloquent enough to convey even a small part of how this feels:
To those of you ballsy enough to put your foot down, even when no one else will:
To those of you selfless enough to put these children first:
To those of you patient enough to explain the situation to those who may not otherwise understand:

Thank you.

To those of you who have endured the stares:
To those of you who have endured the flagrant disregard for the feelings of your child and yourself:
To those of you who have endured the heartbreaking ignorance and self-righteousness:
To those of you who have had the grace to take the moral high ground:

You are not alone.

To those of you who entered this journey before me:

Thank you.  You are not alone.

I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today, had you not helped to pave the road for me. I can only imagine what it must have been like to wander into this wilderness unassisted, forging through unknown territory without a safety net.

Because of you, I feel able to stand tall and proud in my journey to help my daughter. Could I have done it on my own? Probably. But the fact remains that I don't have to, because I’m not alone. And neither are you.