There were several good stories that came out of CNN's coverage today. This, by far, was the best. Please visit here, and play the story of Joshua Eisenstat, as told by his mother, Selma.
Thank you, Selma, for sharing your story.
This Way of Life
"Autism is a way of being. It is pervasive; it colors every experience, every sensation, perception, thought, emotion, and encounter, every aspect of existence. It is not possible to separate the autism from the person."
- Jim Sinclair
Thank you, Kristina, for such thoughtful writing on this topic.
5 comments:
Could someone with better auditory processing transcribe it? I had a hard time making out some of what was said in the clip because the sound was so muddled. (This is the same reason I have trouble with phone calls...)
codeman38,
I will transcribe it this weekend & post in on my blog. I will try & get it done tonight. I feel her story is so moving and important for all to hear/read. Thanks.
Here ya go (my amateur try at a transcript...):
"You know you go through this grieving process when you find out your child's not normal. And, I look back on that and then who he became, and it's amazing. Joshua, he had such a mission to fill in this life, and I feel like he had a mission of love. He and I gave talks together. His, you know, his talks were of course not like our talks. Um, but just on the joy of a handicapped child.
Joshua died of a heart that was two times the size which is exactly true of who he was. He loved every person no matter your situation, status, or anything, yet he had a two year old's brain. He was my first child. He's the oldest of five. He was 22 when he passed away. He was still like in a diaper, um, we finally had to give up on potty training. He had to wear a helmet the last 2 years which was heartbreaking cuz he did not like that, and didn't understand.
I would say the last 8 years of his life were so amazing because we...like me personally, I came to appreciate who he was, finally, to know who he was, and to celebrate who he was. 'Cause those that do know him, say to me "how do you go on? How do you live without a child like that?" When I go to the grocery store now, it's, it's, it's just so sad to me because if I took Joshua to the grocery store he would just go up, and he'd say hi as many times as it took for someone to say 'hi' back, you know, 10 times,
Every day was an adventure. And I saw, mostly I saw the best in people. I have seen the kindness of strangers over and over and over...who didn't know me and could've easily been scared by somebody who they didn't understand what he was doing. I miss being with him and just (?) feeling (?) helping him serve his mission, which he did. He knew he was loved. I know that he knew he was loved.
When I hear the child being diagnosed with autism or being born with disabilities, I don't ever know if they would understand if I said, 'do you know how lucky you are?' I know it's gonna be a hard road, I know that, um, you're gonna have sleepless nights and you're gonna have many tears, 'cause I've had many tears. But, um, you get, I feel like you get a slice of heaven and a pure love in your home. You learn service and you learn, you just work together. Once you stop seeing what my child can't do, and you start seeing what they can do, it's a beautiful...I wish you could have met him, just cause I could feel your love for him. "
That last paragraph, I wish every parent would hear/read it.
Thank you so much for honoring my Joshua on your blog. I happened to run across it today, and was overwhelmed. Joshua lives on in my heart and memory every day; and to have his influence live on the lives of others means more than I can say. I have hundreds of stories and memories that bring peace and joy to my heart. I loved my son with all of my heart, and every day I am thankful that I am Joshua's Mom. Thank you for making my day today.
Selma
I'm Joshua's Uncle Doug. I was privileged to live with Joshua three different times during my life so we were very close and his death was very hard on me and our whole family. Every time I see another person that has special needs, I smile. Yes, I know its hard, but I too also know the joy. I remember one time that Joshua was having a really bad seizure and he kicked his Dad during the seizure and once he was out of it, he hugged him and said sorry.
He had that pure love as they all do. I agree with Selma, the road is hard, but it is so worth it.
Uncle Doug
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