Well, I did it.  After many years of saying I would "never get a tattoo", I got one. I've never really liked tattoos and have never contemplated getting one.  I'm not trying to look cool or recapture my youth.  It's not a "bucket list" thing or a loss on a bet.  Like Jim Carey in "Yes Man", I couldn't say "no". 

My youngest daughter, Hannah, was diagnosed with Autism in 1998, when she was 21 months old.  Having a child with Autism changes not only the parents of that child, but the siblings of that child are shaped and affected by Autism and it's affects on the family.  Sometimes siblings have to wait on the sidelines a lot when autism takes centre stage.  Siblings have to grow up a little faster than their same-aged peers.  As parents, we did our best to create as "normal" a life as possible in a household that sometimes looked very "abnormal".  I know we weren't always perfect.  I know we were sometimes so exhausted and drained that we didn't do everything as well as we would have liked. Often, just getting from morning to night each day was more than I could handle.  Hannah's sisters, Meaghan and Sarah, have always been patient, understanding, and mature beyond their years when it comes to supporting their sister.  They have not complained.  They have not accused us of neglecting them.  They have not showed resentment toward their sister for the daily difficulties that she endures.  They have only been loving, kind, considerate, compassionate, helpful, and grateful.  So when they asked if we could get tattoos for Autism awareness, how could we say no?  The only possible answer was "YES".  

Time Out!

During the Christmas holiday, our family got sick.  Really sick!  I suspect that we got well acquainted with the Norovirus that was making it's way through the Quinte region.  For 4 days I didn't get out of my pajamas.  My first thoughts (after vomiting for hours on end) were "Oh, great, 4 days of my vacation days have been ruined!"
The fact is, though, that anytime I have experienced an unexpected illness or injury, something fabulous happens. Typically, I am one of those people who never sits still.  Always multi-tasking, puttering, only stopping long enough to sip a coffee or answer an email.  When I am forced to be still, I tend to read something I wouldn't usually have time to read or watch something that I wouldn't typically be interested in.  I learn something new and valuable about a topic or myself and I'm always a more enlightened person at the end of my forced confinement.
Those 4 days on the couch were really necessary in my life right now.  I emerged with a new sense of purpose and meaning in my life.  Apparently, the Norovirus was exactly what the doctor ordered.