He Loves a Parade

Anthony, watching the parade on Thanksgiving morning. He slept in this morning and woke up pretty happy. And hungry! He's eaten two waffles, an ice cream sandwich, and a soft pretzel.

I am thankful for so many things, especially when it comes to Anthony. We are thankful he went to summer camp for the first time this year, that we started (and are continuing) toilet training. I'm thankful he has a team at school right now that really work great with Anthony. He is going to change program managers here soon, and his new program manager used to work with him as a therapist and we all love her, so that's exciting. I'm thankful that he has come so far. I'm thankful that we live in Indiana and he has to be allowed to have health insurance which covers his treatment for autism.

NY State recently passed an autism mandate and it's extremely painful to read stories about what financial people think of such mandates. There is a STRONG sentiment that it's NOT FAIR and NOT WORTH IT to treat these children, especially children like Anthony, who are more profoundly affected. First of all, guess what? Insurance itself isn't really fair - it is a giant corporation who wants to take your money, and then wants to screw you over if you ever DARE to want or need to collect. Ask people affected by Katrina, people who lost everything, if they think the way they were treated by their insurance company was FAIR. Life isn't fair. It's not fair that Anthony is so affected by autism, so I have no sympathy for some jackass who doesn't want to PAY for Anthony's therapy. We pay an ever-rising premium every month so that Anthony can have insurance and yes, Anthony's therapy costs more than what he pays into it. But I have paid my WHOLE LIFE into health insurance and I have rarely used ANY OF IT, same with Mike, same with our other kids. Thank God, Anthony is extremely healthy, he has only ever had ONE ear infection! Why is no one bitching because insurance covers tubes in kids' ears? They have to pay for that too, but I guess it's easier to pick on kids who can't talk for themselves. Jerks.

Um, but this was about gratitude, right?

I am grateful for my family, and Anthony's family, for being so loving and supportive of Anthony. I'm grateful that Anthony is ours, we couldn't love him more. Happy Thanksgiving!