Hopeful Parents

Normalcy

Settled into a lounge chair

around a Palm Springs pool,

I sip a mid-day Corona Light,

and strike up a conversation

with another spring break family

while my eight-year-old son

completes his umpteenth lap

up the water slide

with new friends,

crashing into the pool,

only appearing at my side

for food or a towel.

I shift in my seat,

daze away from

this easy banter,

inwardly stunned

at the normalcy.

Oh, it’s shockingly different,

there is no talk

of my son’s special needs,

no drawn out drama with strangers,

telling our story of not quite autism,

nodding, oh yes, he has come so far.

There are none of the usual comments

of how they know so and so,

and have we tried this therapy?

My story was like a dear friend

who held my hand

in every new situation,

ready to explain away

my anxiety of a special boy

who might not yet look

quite up to speed.

Suddenly that part of me

has disappeared

behind a gloriously normal day

where my son beams with freedom.

That woman with her story

has packed up her facts, her fear.

She has cared for, cleaned up

years of heartache

and set me down

on this pool chair,

left alone,

to read in peace.

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Jennie Linthorst is a therapeutic writing coach and the founder of LifeSPEAKS Poetry Therapy. She works privately with men and women helping them tell their stories and heal, through reading and writing poetry and personal essays. Jennie coaches clients all across the country and around the world via phone, Skype, e-mail, in addition to in person meetings. She is the author of a book of poems, Autism Disrupted: A Mother's Journey of Hope. Her family’s story is captured in the award-winning documentary film, “Autistic-Like: Graham’s Story”.