my Superhero

Occasionally, I look back at my Facebook and check out old posts I made. Last night, scrolling through facebook, I found this post from November 7, 2012.

On the off chance my subtlety is lost.
Last Thursday, Kelli and I had our suspicions confirmed. Jack was diagnosed as Autistic, specifically Asperger's Disorder. Along with dyslexia, dysgraphia, a host of sensory disorders, and oh yeah ADHD. He's also a certified genius. Anyone that has ever met my son is not shocked by this news, but maybe surprised as I was. 

These diagnosis do NOT mean that anything is "wrong" with my son (and I will "have words" with the first person that says something is. My son is different. He is exceptional He is a lamborghini amongst station wagons. I'm lucky to be his father. But our lives are going to be different as we learn how to adapt to living in a world that does not move at Jackspeed™.

This post was made a few days after we were presented the report that Jack was an Aspie. Although it did not change at all how I feel about Jack, I can not lie and say it didn't change how I look at him. See, that report was a giant hand that slapped the goggles of denial off of my face. My "perfect" little boy wasn't "perfect". But it made somethings make so much sense.


I love my son. Words simply do not express how much light he brings to my world. Jack is my superhero. He even has a cape. I call him a superhero for a reason.He saved my marriage.
Jack was born in 2003. For reasons I won't go into, my marriage began to fall apart. For those that have met my wife, this may seem completely impossible. But alot of things went wrong. The biggest thing is that we lost communication.

I was absolutely miserable at my job, and brought that animosity home. Not a good mix. Don't misunderstand, Kelli and I did love each other, we just didn't like each other. At all. And it probably eroded the love more than either of us realize or want to admit. But we held on. Jack, up until he was 3 years old, held us up. Both Kelli and I admitted to each other later that we held on for so long because of Jack. Neither of us wanted him to grow up in a "broken" family. But for 3 years, my son held us, our problems, our issues up on his little shoulders. And never knew it. He smiled, and loved and laughed, and never let go of those few remaining heart strings that tied his mother and his father together.

March 27th, 2006.I was let go from my job very unceremoniously. To be blunt I got shitcanned.

Kelli told me later that when I got home that night, she had finally worked up the courage to leave. But I called her on the way home, in tears, that I'd lost my job, and that I was a failure. Despite how much she probably wanted to agree, she couldn't kick me when I was down. I came home and picked up my son and just held him for a while. I like to think that seeing how I held him when I was down helped Kelli rediscover the beginnings of why she loved me.


Needless to say, we repaired our marriage, and it is stronger than ever before. Of the 12 years that she and I have been together, 3 of those years only made it because of a little blonde headed superhero.


My son is exceptional. He is my hero. And sometimes I forget he's not "perfect". Because he is perfect. To me.