Lily taught me that. And I almost destroyed it because I couldn’t see past the surface. The officer who arrested Bear?
Officer Thompson? He has a nephew diagnosed with autism last month. He called Bear.
Apologized. Asked for advice. Bear invited him to Bikers for Autism.
Now Officer Thompson is learning sign language. Dating Jennifer, actually. Becoming part of our strange family.
Because that’s what we are now. Family. Held together by a terrifying-looking grandfather who understands that different doesn’t mean less.
That nonverbal doesn’t mean non-thinking. That autistic doesn’t mean broken. My daughter was right from the beginning.
She saw what I couldn’t. That beneath the scary exterior was the safest person she’d ever met. Someone who would never try to change her.
Never be frustrated by her differences. Never see her as a burden. Just Bear.
Who shows up every day at 3
. Who jumps hopscotch in size 14 boots. Who saved my daughter by simply seeing her.
Really seeing her. And loving her exactly as she is.
