“Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.” ~ Unknown

For a few weeks at least, my children are here with me.  It’s been a change going from being alone to having them with me, but it has been an adventure as well.  As difficult as change is for most people, having autism makes it even more difficult for Sam to adjust to new places, new faces,  and new routines.  A new and different home, a new work schedule for mom– having mom home every evening and every weekend, a new church, new pool, and let’s not even get into the 12-hour drive cooped up in a small sedan!

So far, in the first week:

We’ve gone swimming at the local state park, climbed the observation tower on the highest point in the state and eaten dinner at the restaurant overlooking the valley at dusk (and got to watch a wedding rehearsal in progress on the outside deck).

My employer had a “Family Fun Day” at a local recreational camp.  There was a cook-out with an ice cream dessert bar, swimming, hiking and a zipline that ended with a cool splash-in-the-lake water landing.

This week my sweet neighbor invited us to attend the Vacation Bible School at her church, and next week our own church is holding a Vacation Bible School and Savannah has already signed up to assist.

I have always been an adventurer, possessing a deep desire to travel and take in as much of the world as possible.  Savannah has a bit of the wanderlust but Sam requires the safety net of familiarity and comfort.  While they were both excited at the prospect of moving when I first talked about this job in Alabama, one person’s reaction transformed their excitement and tempered it with an underlying base of fear which saddens me.

In the end, they will soon enough be adults and capable of making their own choices as to how fearful life truly is.  In the meantime, I hope to use these few weeks together to show them adventure is waiting to be discovered, if they’re curious enough to search for it.