Thank You!

     I once wrote, in a previous blog, that it takes a city to raise a special needs child. Apparently, there are times when it can actually take 2. We are back home from a long journey. It started back in October when we began to explore the possibility of taking our son to this program. There was a lot of decision making and planning involved in doing this. It was not an easy one to make or to implement. As I have said before, like most parents, we would do anything for our children and so we made it work but, it was not simple.
     When you make a decision, for which you know that you will need a lot of help implementing, it can be extrememely stressful. It is one thing to decide to do something that affects only you and therefore all of the responsibilty falls on you. It is an entirely different thing to make a decision that impacts many others. For some of those people you can try to anticipate the impact but for many others you dont even realize that they will have a role.
     I would say that our decision was the right one and that this program was a success. Both my husband and I learned a ton and so did our son. We have already begun the process of implememting what we learned there and are excited about this new path we are taking. We have already seen growth and are hopeful that it will only continue. We are exceedingly proud of Yonatan and how hard he worked while he was away. I am in awe of his strength and willingness to learn. I am so amazed by my other kids who even though they acted out and had a hard time with all of the upheaval, were actually pretty awesome.
     As I look back on the past six weeks there are many people to whom I am extremely grateful and want to thank. I don't want to list anyone by name, because who knows if they want their names permanently seared into the internet, but nonetheless I would like all of you to know that you have had a hand in helping us with our sons growth. To all of my friends who listened to me endlessly and tirelessly talk about this before, thank you. To everyone who did carpool or had us for shabbos, thank you. To all of my parents neighbors (some right next door and some around the corner and related) who didn't realize that being nice to Yonatan once meant mating for life and daily visits, thank you. To all of my friends who helped out with playdates, thank you. To all of my nieces and nephews who came over all of the time to play, Yonatan had a blast! Thank you. To the owners of the Makolet and the pizza store, who might actually be thanking us for the boost to their businesses (or mourning our departure), thank you. To my friend in Israel who visited me every day, thank you. To my brothers and sisters for being so helpful, thank you.
     A special shout out though to 4 people. I want to thank my in laws for watching my kids here, and even taking them in jet lagged and straight from the plane. For people who really like to sleep late, that is a huge deal. For helping us make this happen and for the simple fact that when we planned it, I knew I could count on you to help out. Thank you. Finally, to my parents who totally rose to the occasion. Living with  Yonatan (and me for that matter) is not easy. You were amazing. I am so happy that you had this time together with him but I know that it was hard and you didn't let that show at all. He had the best time with you and you really made it possible for us to do this. So, thank you. You really earned that vacation.