Countdown to Sunday

It's been quite a week... we gutted the kitchen just over a week ago in preparation for a remodel. No appliances, no counters, no pantry... ahhh... might as well be living in a hotel room. My reputation in the family is that I become a bear when the house is turned upside down, but I think I've handled this pretty well - only a couple of "lose control" moments. But, in the midst of the whirlwind, we got a call from our church asking if Cassidy could tell her story during the Sunday services this coming Sunday. Pastor Allen is starting a series on "people making a difference with their lives" and Cassidy is the first "example". Wow! Humbling, exciting, inspiring - although it's mostly just "scary" for her. Her first instinct was "no way" as she thought of talking to 1000 people, but as we talked about it, she understood her role and she's going for it on Sunday.

If you are in San Jose, come on by - church is at 9:15 and 11. If not, here is the transcript we wrote up together. Tears fell from my eyes many times remembering that first year after "autism" entered our vocabulary, but also thinking about how Grant's life has truly changed the course of our lives.


My name is Cassidy, and this is a window into my life:
Eight years ago when my mom and dad told me that I was finally going to have a little brother, I was really excited, but I was also scared. I remember dreaming about all the things we would do together; how we would play all day and how I would never be bored. I can remember holding Grant when he was just a baby, and I can remember teaching him how to play ball and all kinds of other fun stuff.
When Grant was 2 years old though, he started to change. He didn’t play anymore, he didn’t talk anymore, and he wouldn’t even look at us. I didn’t really know what to do with him anymore or how to be a big sister to him. And then about a year later, I remember coming down the stairs and seeing my mom crying very hard with my Grandma. I don’t think I had ever seen anyone cry so hard. I kept asking her what was wrong, and then she told me he was diagnosed with autism. I didn’t even know what “diagnosed” meant; I thought for sure he was going to die.

I felt so sad. I couldn’t understand what was happening to him. Other little kids could talk to me and play with me, but not him. I wondered why he wouldn’t come play with us; we tried to get him to come but he always wanted to go off by himself. We would pray every night for his healing, that he would talk again and that he would look at us with his big brown eyes. Even if he would just say my name.

My mom and dad tried a lot of therapies with him and I tried to help with each one. We used to have teachers from his school come to our house to work with him after school; I would watch and learn what they were doing so I could hopefully help Grant too.
I figured there had to be another way I could help. I started to make little things and I tried to sell them in front of our house. I would only make like 50 cents or a dollar for a whole day, but I kept on trying to make new things. When my mom saw me making bracelets out of plastic beads, she took me to the store to buy real beads. Once I started making real bracelets, people started buying them; we kept joking that my dad could quit his job and we would start a bracelet business.

But, I wanted to help Grant. We had just done a walk to raise money for Cure Autism Now, and I realized that I could raise a lot of money to help Grant and other kids. So, I started my own business making bracelets that I could sell to raise money. Since the beginning of my business, I’ve been able to raise over $5000, and each year it just keeps growing bigger and bigger.

Grant has improved a lot since I first heard my mom say “diagnosed with autism”. He can sing Happy Birthday, he can write his name, he can read a couple of hundred words. He just started figuring out how to make animal sounds. He can even say my name, Cassidy. It’s still really hard sometimes, but it’s also great when he learns something new.

There are a lot of questions that people ask, like why did God allow Grant to be autistic? I really don’t know why, but I do know God has a plan for all of us, and I’m a part of it. He will use Grant and our family to help others. I believe that God loves us and has trusted my family with this opportunity to make a difference. I believe and trust in God with all my heart, and I’m thankful that I can have a part in trying to help Grant and other kids with autism.