(version en español mas abajo)
Many questions… Answers hard to explain, summarizes
the most substantial in this letter…
Dear Scarlett:
Sweetheart, we don’t know if someday you’ll
be able to read this letter or at least understand it. We know that in your
world, words may be just too many.
Your daddy and I thought we had been through the worst in our
lives until that very day, when we felt we were powerless, we felt anger,
sadness, desperation, and all other feelings that parents tend to feel when
receiving such news. We thought, why you out of all people? Yes Sweetheart,
that’s the day they told us our little girl had Autism.
How could this be happening to our little perfect being? We tried
to deny it over and over again but our intuition kept telling us otherwise. We
cried as we saw you disconnect more and more from our world.
We noticed it when you were one and half. We were told there was
the chance you wouldn't be able to communicate with us among other things, and
three years later you were officially diagnosed in the spectrum.
Sometimes our sadness comes from our own selfishness as we
dictate your world isn't real and that should be like ours. We’re
sorry for so many hours of therapy. We’ve always agreed that we’d
do anything in order for you to have a “normal” childhood
and it breaks our hearts watching you spend long hours on therapy “A”,
“B” and “C”.
Nevertheless, our compromise is to keep fighting along your side and to keep
learning from your world but mostly enjoy this ride with you.
Our princess, you are our hero. You wake up everyday to face new
challenges with bravery and optimism. We’ve already learned
that with hard work miracles can happen and you are living example of it.
We’re nothing but proud of sharing who
you are as well as your improvements. Someday when you get older, you’ll
impact the lives of many people just as you’re already
impacting ours today.
It’s been three years since we started to
live your condition and even though your progress is remarkable, today you
being 4 years old, we can say that we still have a long way to go. Princess,
you've already accomplished so much. Your smile lights up a room. Every
gesture, every word, every thing you achieve its a battle won, an act of
heroism that nobody can ever imagine what it costs you.
Our story is simple, perhaps unique because we are going through
this, but everyone comes to this earth to be tested. And each one of us without
exception will have hurdles to climb, challenges to overcome, in other words everyone
will have to live their own story.
Scarlett, we want you to know that you have parents with quite a
lot of faith. Thanks to all that hope and love given from family and friends,
everything has become easier.
Before we were afraid of the word autism, but you have taught us
and given us a different perspective; Scarlett, your light shines bright and
you always reflect happiness in your eyes. Princess, thank you for teaching us
to bring out the best of us, you have been and are a great blessing in our
lives and to all those around you.
We love you,
Mami & Papi
