Hope for Buddies and Friends

So tomorrow James and I will be walking in our second Walk Now for Autism Speaks event. This year it is so much closer to home -- yay! While we enjoyed walking at Infineon (with our pals the sheep and Shetland ponies) ... the driving will be so much less!

While we are walking to raise funds and have our own page, we are part of a local team called "Hope for Buddies and Friends." It is well named.

Hope is something that I as a parent cling to: hope for better studies and research; hope for help; hope for a good life for James.

Hope is how I feel when James has his breakthroughs, like becoming more self-sufficient, talking to his friends at school, writing numbers, or reading me a sentence.

Hope is where I need to refocus, when I get down about the metaphorical autism mountains yet to climb, discouraging news about budget and school cuts, or I go one too many nights without enough sleep due to my early rising son.

Hope is knowing there are answers out there. Hope comes from good friends. Love and faith keep us hoping for our other buddies and friends, whatever their struggles may be.

So if you're near the Windsor Town Green tomorrow, April 9th, come on out to see all the friends and buddies, walking for hope and a better future. There will be raffle baskets and information about autism-related services and studies. And if hope is something you want to get behind, please consider making a donation to James and his team.