Hello and Goodbye

 I have not written here for years. Over 5 years, in fact.

The reasons are many. First off, I am at the point in my life where Dovi isn't such a front-and-center part of my life. He is 15 1/2 years old, bli ayin hora, and doing amazingly well at Anderson. I call his house regularly, and they send me pictures regularly. I hope to post some later on in this entry.  I just finished the IEP meeting with the school , and I was moved to tears by their reports on the things he can do today. If someone would have told me back when I started this blog and despairing about his future, that in 2024 he could recognize numbers, guess the weather correctly, do tasks such as taking paper to the shredder, sweeping the floor, doing laundry, following recipes correctly, and dressing himself, I wouldn't have believed you. He is tall, handsome and healthy, and while I miss him every day, I cannot thank Hashem enough for leading him to such an amazing school and such devoted caregivers. I can write a whole book about this topic, but I'm pressed for time.

So I haven't updated this blog because that would entail going back in time and delving into a period that I have no interest in revisiting. My life has stabilized to the point where frankly, thinking back to those difficult times serves no purpose except bringing up terrible feelings that I have no intention of revisiting. It also makes me think more about him, which makes me very sad. So there isn't much of a point in continuing to write, since it won't help me, but harm me.

Secondly, I don't even remember how this works. I would have to relearn all the technical details of blogging, and there's no time for that in my life. As it is, I'm writing this hastily for reasons you'll see soon, and I don't even know what I need to do to make it look similar to the previous entries.

Lastly, as I'm getting older I struggle with different minor health issues, including brain fog and sluggishness. I have stopped writing professionally a long time ago; it's harder for me to string together proper sentences, and very hard to focus for any length of time on a sustained task. My life is very busy; I'm always chasing my tail, and updating this blog isn't on the list. I left it open instead of shutting it down, in case anyone finds this through a search and finds my story helpful.

Which is exactly what happened recently. Apparently, without me realizing, a big organization whose mission is to help out parents of special needs children, referenced this blog in their weekly email, which is probably what led you here.

So I just want to say to you, thank you for visiting. I hope there will be something in these pages that you will find helpful, even if it's just one article. Hang in there! I hope life will get easier for you soon and you experience strength and even joy, despite all you are going through.

While I'm very much out of the special needs circles at this point, and I don't even know what resources are available, you can always reach out to me via email and I can try to see if I can lead you in the right direction.

Goodbye for now.

P.S. Hello from Mr. Handsomeness himself.