Godspeed

Riding in the car taking Jared to work gives me a daily chance to spend 1:1 time with him.  Most days the ride is spent talking about upcoming football or basketball games - him telling me who is playing who and when (and of course including the name of the coaches and all sorts of information on the team's mascot.)  Of course his talking is VERY fast, as though who know Jared know, and his speech is often choppy and difficult to understand.  You have to know how to read between the lines.

Today the traffic was light, due to schools being closed, and so we arrived at Gold's Gym a little early. I pulled into the back part of the parking lot and we waited for it to be 7:58am, because of course you can't go into work at a different time.  Jared's autism demands routine.

When the clock changed to 7:58am, I pulled up near the door to let Jared out.
He looked over at me and said "Godspeed mom."

My mouth dropped open!!!

I said "What did you say?" and Jared repeated "Godspeed mom."

I asked Jared, "What does Godspeed mean?" and he replied "good luck on your journey."

(MIND BLOWN)

So I asked him where he heard that from.  Jared replied "From Chesterfield County graduations."

A little background here - one of the things that Jared watches over and over again on YouTube is our county's graduation ceremonies.  He watches them ALL.  He looks for kids he knows.  He looks for himself and the year he walked the stage.

But Jared does more than watch.  Now I know that he listens!  Really listens and he understands some of the things he is hearing from the speeches.  Not only did he learn several new words by doing this, but he used them correctly!!!

After Jared walked into the gym, I had to pull back into a parking spot and process this some. 

See, Jared did not talk at all until he was 4 1/2 years old.  He struggles A LOT with anything verbal.  His vocabulary is very limited in general.

Here is the kicker - many medical professionals have told us along that way that Jared
would not ________
or could not ________
(you can fill in the blank with so many things and a large amount of the things would have to do with language and communication.)

But today, at age 20, Jared showed me that the professionals left out one important word... the word YET!

There are always opportunities for growth.  There are always opportunities for good things to happen.

Jared reminded me today that he will continue to learn. 
He reminded me today that I should never go up. 
He reminded me today his journey is no where near over.

I hope that he helped remind you too.
Whatever journey you find yourself on...
Godspeed to you!
Best wishes of success on your journey!
And may you know, that your journey is not over.