Last year for the first time, Matt attended the Annual Field Day at the Washington State School for the Blind. Due to illness I was not able to attend. I promised him that if I was well I would accompany him this year.
I was well and excited to keep my promise, I awoke at four in the morning to prepare for the 3 hour trip to the southern part of the state.
I was ready to cheer on the sidelines and tell him how wonderful of a job he was doing.
What I was not ready for was the sobering experience of seeing so many children and young adults who were blind and visually impaired gathered in one place. I have gained a new level of admiration for their incredible strength. I have appreciation for their simplicity.
For eight years I have told myself that I am not going to treat Matt as if he has something wrong with him. I have pushed him in the name of independence when what he needed most from me was acceptance and support because I fed into the fear of him losing something he lost a long time ago. I have held onto the belief that somehow him not having eyesight means he is unable to have vision. I saw people today who despite living in physical darkness were resilient and bright in spirit because they had acceptance, joy and appreciation.
As we sat on a bench by one of the fountains today, I realized that I haven't helped him to be stronger by forcing him to live in a world he will never fit into. I have in fact weakened him. I held my son and I apologized to him today. I made us both a promise to be a source of strength for him to stand in a world that is dark yet filled with the light of love and acceptance.
😂🤣😅😄
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