Fairy Tales DO come true

Hunter's kindergarten class had been preparing in their PE and music classes for their annual Fairy Tale Ball.  We had talked with the kindergarten teacher, as well as the special ed teacher, wondering how we could prepare him for the event.  They both said he was practicing in the class periods, and had the dance moves down.  He told his teacher he was going to be a knight- which was a surprise to me, whom he had told he didn't want to wear a costume.  So the day before, we borrowed two costumes from friends (both were too small), and then I attempted to make a knight costume out of felt and a t-shirt.  

Around midnight, we had our finished product...to which Hunter responded in the morning, "That is ridiculous."  But he put it on and was off to school!

His classroom teacher snapped this picture of the group of boys before the ball was supposed to begin...

 Peter and I waited in the gymnasium, just wondering if he would walk through the door.  We told him we wouldn't video or take pictures (my sweet friend snapped  all the pictures below for us!) to prevent some anxiety.  We had been to numerous events throughout the year, and each time as we sat in hopeful anticipation, he would run out the door, or wouldn't be with his group.

However, today, something "magical" happened.  He walked through the door and took his spot in their formation.

each time the audience clapped, he covered his left ear and continued on

 He did every poem, every song, every action...and I watched as our sweet son smiled through a performance in front of the entire student body and group of kindergarten parents.

We both had tears in our eyes, as did some of the teachers who have seen the transformation throughout the year.  According to Hunter, I was "happy crying."

 And then it was time for the big moment- the slow dance with their partner.  Hunter grabbed her hands, and twirled her, over and over again...I have to admit I was a little worried about this sweet girl's arm sockets, but she was all smiles (except when he knocked her crown off her head).

 After the children finished their slow dance, the music changed to Justin Bieber (remember my video from a few months ago??), and the kids in the audience (all 500 of the students) started to cheer.  That was it...he took off out the door.  But I wasn't at all disappointed.

He had made it fifteen minutes of a choreographed, direction filled performance...

And he had smiled throughout its entirety.

Sometimes, in the middle of this crazy so-called life, LOVE brings us a fairy tale.

HOPE brings us crowns.

FAITH brings us victory.

We celebrated back in the cafeteria with all of the other princesses and knights.

his sweet partner (whose mother told me that she has a relative with Autism)

Today was about so much more than fairy tales.  To every other parent, it was about the loved traditional kindergarten event.  It was about dressing their child up, taking pictures and videos of a precious performance, and celebrating the end of a successful kindergarten year.  

But to us, it was a victory in this battle with Autism and Autoimmunity.  

And it made us realize many important lessons....

You are never too old to fall in love again with fairy tales.

You can't expect to have victories without a struggle- even princes had to raise their swords before they found their loves. 

We become obsessed with a fairy tale ending, and spend our lives searching for the right path. 

Every story has an end, but in LIFE, every end is just a new beginning.  

We may have lost normalcy back in that dreadful week where Autoimmunity took over our son's brain, but we haven't stopped searching, hoping, and believing in the fairy tale ending.  

And even if this is our new baseline, our new normal...I would consider it a victory.  

We have beaten so many dragons up to this point...and we aren't stopping now without giving our best valiant effort. 

We are going to prove to ourselves, and everyone else...

that happy endings do in fact exist.