I’m on a mission

All kids ask for stuff. Whether it’s the newest video game or money to go to a movie or a school dance, the want is there. When it comes to this time of year, most kids can also make a Christmas wish list a mile long. Ask them what they want and they will gladly give you, or hopefully Santa, the rundown of their most coveted toys they hope to find wrapped under the tree. Nick is so exception. I asked him to create a wish list and he did, at a pretty rapid pace I might add. I explained his list was just that, a wish list, and that there were no guarantees so he should choose really wisely and only write down the things that would mean the most to him to receive. I’d like to ask if there is anything a teenager can ask for these days that is cheaper than $30? You keep thinking while I keep writing because long gone are the days of entertaining them with an empty box or a cute little rattle. The older they get, the higher the price tags, the smaller the box (that doesn’t matter at all anymore). Awesome.

Cody, however, is a different story. It’s really tough to get him to create a list. Of course its also tough to get him to write his name on his homework so it isn’t like I should be surprised at the lack of wishes on his Christmas list this year. Something I’ve learned through the years of living with autism and how it affects Cody is that communication is sometimes a challenge. In his mind he absolutely knows what he wants, but to share it with us can be difficult at times. There’s one constant that he is always, practically daily, very clear on. He pronounces every single word perfectly and speaks quite clearly when he declares that he wants to go to Walt Disney World. It tears at my heart since this boy hardly ever asks for anything, but giving him the one thing he loves the most is such an enormous expense, one that he can’t grasp. I always sweetly reply telling him that I want to make that trip, too, and that we need to save a lot of money first. He repeats what I say and moves on with what he’s doing until the next day when he asks me again. In recent years there’s another huge desire that Cody has begun to express interest in doing. He wants to go to The Price is Right. As in, get tickets for the show, and sit in the audience. Of course if I have my way, he’ll get chosen as a contestant and play his most favorite game and get a dollar on the big wheel, then win the showcase. Hey I’m his Mom, I have high expectations hopes. If you sat with him for just five minutes while he watches the show on television, which happens to be every single day when he arrives home from school, you’d want to find a way to make his dream come true, just as his father and I do. I seriously think he feels equally excited for the contestants when they win as they do for themselves and he also cries out in agony at their losses. Next year in November Cody will turn 18 years old, the age at which a person can attend a taping of the show. It is my absolute desire to get him there, if not on the very day of his birthday, then something as close to it as possible. Of course this means a huge trip. One that would mean flying about 3,000 miles to the other side of the country, staying in a hotel, and well, finding a way to fit in a visit to the happiest place on earth as well. It might not be the world that Disney built, but I’m certain he won’t argue or care as long as he can see Mickey and go on his favorite rides again and again…..and again. I’m pretty sure if this trip were to happen Cody would be overflowing with joy and excitement, which means I would, too. It would also make up for the many years that he simply asked for nothing on his birthday or Christmas and his Dad and I had to come up with things we hoped he would like and actually enjoy. This, though, this would undoubtedly be something he would never forget and the absolute best gift aside from the actual trip itself? Hearing those famous and most magical of words……..Cody Herard…….