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So, You’re Sick of It…
By Nancy Lindquist | April 7, 2007
A dear friend of mine has an autistic son two, well, two of them. She wrote in her blog that she’s sick of people begging for money for cancer research. She wants more funds to go to Autism. Me too, but I’m not sick of cancer. I hate cancer. I also recognize that publicity gets the bucks and saves lives. Cancer has a huge following.
It might be the numbers. A lot of people get cancer. You probably know someone who had it, or died from it. I love a grandfather, dear friend and several acquaintances. One of my best friends is fighting breast cancer right now and she’s probably not going to win. There’s always hope, but she’s being pulled from her trial next week.
Cancer touches more lives. Autism is bad. Hunger is bad. Pain is bad. Death is bad. All of these need money, lots of it, to make it better. We’re getting closer.
Sometimes it seems like everyone has their hand out for a very good cause. How do you pick? You can’t help them all.
I don’t have the answer. I donate to a few pet causes and promote a few more, but I can’t give to everyone. Food on the table is an issue.
I feel an urgency for cancer that I don’t feel for autism. I’d love to see autism eradicated, but I accept that there’s never going to be a, “cure.” No one is ever going to give Herne a shot and make the autism go away. I don’t think our brains work like that. I know, there are parents who disagree with me on this. Vehemently. They believe a cure is out there and I am terrible for thinking, or saying otherwise.
If there was a cure, would we take it? Herne is charming and adorable and smart. What would be lose if we cured him? Who would he be? He’s happy. I’m not sure a cure would leave him that way.
Gasp, “Don’t you want a normal child?” What’s normal and why is it so important that we fit into a mold? Should autism be eradicated? Hell yes. I don’t want one more parent to feel that mix of horror and fear that freezes you cold, when your child is diagnosed. It’s so life altering. I don’t have the words. I don’t want to have them. I want it to be gone from the face of the earth. Today, yesterday. I want to take back that moment when we were told.
and yes, I want Herne to be like other kids.
I want that for me. None of those fears about my boy are for him, as much as me. What does he want? What does he need? Happiness. He has that.
Maybe I hope they find a way to prevent it, but never a cure so I don’t have to make that choice. I never want my child to look at me and say, “why? I was happy before.”
We get so caught up in people who are not retarded. Like they are broken people. My son is not broken. He’s got some tough challenges. Of course, my son functions. Maybe not enough to live on his own one day. I don’t know. If he rocked in a corner and never showed expression, maybe then I would want a cure.
So, eradicate autism, feed the hungry, make cancer a thing of the past. Is that too much to ask?
April 8th, 2007 at 2:27 am
Not too much to ask at all…but if we did cure everything, where would humans be without the challenge that life offers us to become better than we think we can be when faced with adversity? Not making light of this, just pondering a universal question. Why are we here? I think it’s to learn, and in order to learn, one must face obstacles. In overcoming an obstacle we learn. Interestingly enough, I keep forgetting that fact. LOL As someone who is bipolar and has managed to pass that “lovely” trait on to her two kids, I hate seeing them on meds and having to deal with the stigma that goes with this chemical imbalance of the brain. BUT, I remind myself that God and I talked before I showed up here in this dimension, and together we selected the colors for my art palette. I’m still trying to remember our conversation as to what type of picture I was going to paint. I know I was shooting for something on a Titian scale, but so far, I’m only managing to look like a poor imitation of a first-grader trying to stay inside the lines.
Hugs, Mon