I admit it, I'm pretty superstitious. I don't walk under ladders, I turn and go the other way if a black cat is about to cross my path, if I spill salt, you better not be standing behind me because a pinch of that salt is getting chucked over my left shoulder (never the right) and if you are walking down the street next to me and I see a penny, I will knock you off the sidewalk to snatch that penny up so all day long I'll have good luck. Sorry about your luck. Maybe when I push you off the sidewalk and face plant you in the grass you will find a four leaf clover then your luck will change too.
With my belief in all things supernatural, you can sure bet, I am not a fan of the unlucky number 13. I never pick the number 13 when I play the lottery. I think it's horribly unlucky to get out of bed when the clock flashes any number:13. In fact, I'm so superstitious about the number 13 that even childbirth can't get in the way of my crazy beliefs.
Ryan's big brother Kyle was born on Thursday March 12th at 10:28 PM. Once I finished watching Friends and Seinfeld (my gosh, I love epidurals) and discovered how close I was to delivering my poor baby on Friday the 13th, I pushed Kyle out in less than 30 minutes so he wouldn't spend the rest of his life cursed. And even though 80% of the world's high rises do not have a 13th floor, if my bad luck found me in one of the 20% of high rises that had a 13th floor, I would sleep in a cab instead, as long as the cab number wasn't 1313.
Clearly, I am not alone in my Triskaidekaphobia, the fear of poor unlucky number 13 (if docs give such fear a name, than by all means, that fear is the real deal), since many folks go to extreme measures to avoid 13 in any way they can.
Many airports skip the 13th gate because AWEnestly, who wants to ride on an unlucky plane (I think the fact that those monstrosities can fly in the air in the first place is pretty darn lucky)? Many airline companies take the fear of 13 so seriously that they do not include a 13th aisle on their planes for fear those seats would always be empty. Apollo 13 is considered the only "unsuccessful lunar mission" since it did not land on the moon. Coincidence? I think not.
Those incredibly superstitious Italians omit the number 13 from their lottery, and in the streets of Florence, the house between number 12 and 14 is designated 12 1/2. Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue, and here is a little superstitious food for thought, if you have 13 letters in your name, it is said you will have "the devil's luck". Guess who had 13 letters in their names...Jack the Ripper....Charles Manson...Jeffrey Dahmer...and Theodore Bundy (I counted, they really do have 13 letters). Have I given you Triskaidekaphobia yet?
With my belief in all things supernatural, you can sure bet, I am not a fan of the unlucky number 13. I never pick the number 13 when I play the lottery. I think it's horribly unlucky to get out of bed when the clock flashes any number:13. In fact, I'm so superstitious about the number 13 that even childbirth can't get in the way of my crazy beliefs.
Ryan's big brother Kyle was born on Thursday March 12th at 10:28 PM. Once I finished watching Friends and Seinfeld (my gosh, I love epidurals) and discovered how close I was to delivering my poor baby on Friday the 13th, I pushed Kyle out in less than 30 minutes so he wouldn't spend the rest of his life cursed. And even though 80% of the world's high rises do not have a 13th floor, if my bad luck found me in one of the 20% of high rises that had a 13th floor, I would sleep in a cab instead, as long as the cab number wasn't 1313.
Clearly, I am not alone in my Triskaidekaphobia, the fear of poor unlucky number 13 (if docs give such fear a name, than by all means, that fear is the real deal), since many folks go to extreme measures to avoid 13 in any way they can.
Many airports skip the 13th gate because AWEnestly, who wants to ride on an unlucky plane (I think the fact that those monstrosities can fly in the air in the first place is pretty darn lucky)? Many airline companies take the fear of 13 so seriously that they do not include a 13th aisle on their planes for fear those seats would always be empty. Apollo 13 is considered the only "unsuccessful lunar mission" since it did not land on the moon. Coincidence? I think not.
Those incredibly superstitious Italians omit the number 13 from their lottery, and in the streets of Florence, the house between number 12 and 14 is designated 12 1/2. Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue, and here is a little superstitious food for thought, if you have 13 letters in your name, it is said you will have "the devil's luck". Guess who had 13 letters in their names...Jack the Ripper....Charles Manson...Jeffrey Dahmer...and Theodore Bundy (I counted, they really do have 13 letters). Have I given you Triskaidekaphobia yet?
Da Vinci's painting of The Last Supper. Judas is circled. Rumor has it, the number 13 got a bad rap when Judas Iscariot was the 13th man to take his place at the table with Jesus during The Last Supper and well, we know how that turned out. There is also an old Norse legend that tells of 12 gods sitting down to a banquet when an uninvited 13th god shows up and kills one of the other invited gods. Clearly, whether you have Triskaidekaphobia or whether you are a Christian or a Norseman, it is not wise to invite a last minute, newly divorced, single neighbor to your dinner party of 12, no matter how charming they may seem.
For as superstitious as I am, today, of all days, I do not fear the number 13. Today, 13 does not feel scary, threatening or supernatural. In fact, today, August 29, 2014, the number 13 feels very, very lucky.
You see, today, this squishy faced, looks like I gave birth to him under a pile of rubble, boy, turns 13 years old. And even though the word "teenager" is enough to make the least superstitious mom shudder just a wee bit, today the words "thirteen" and "teenager" do not have me crossing myself or wearing a large rabbit's foot as a pendant (a rabbit, by the way, does not feel lucky when you carry his foot around). Instead, those two sometimes scary words, have me feeling nothing, but, good fortune and joy in my heart today.
You see, today, this squishy faced, looks like I gave birth to him under a pile of rubble, boy, turns 13 years old. And even though the word "teenager" is enough to make the least superstitious mom shudder just a wee bit, today the words "thirteen" and "teenager" do not have me crossing myself or wearing a large rabbit's foot as a pendant (a rabbit, by the way, does not feel lucky when you carry his foot around). Instead, those two sometimes scary words, have me feeling nothing, but, good fortune and joy in my heart today.
When I think back to that day so many years ago, when we heard The A Word, at the time I wondered, "How did we got so unlucky?". I had spent my entire superstitious life not walking under ladders, avoiding black cats, throwing spilled salt over my shoulder, and staying away from the number 13, how did one word change all my luck? Did I not pick up enough pennies? When I tried to cheat and paste a fourth leaf to a three leaf clover, did I reverse the good luck to bad luck with my deception?
I never once considered myself unlucky to have Ryan as my son, but, my friend Denial had me believe that autism was just a case of bad luck and there was nothing I could do about it since it was just the card Ryan was dealt. "Sorry about your luck", Denial said as she rubbed her rabbit's foot hoping my bad luck would not rub off on her.
It turns out, The A Word, like so many things, had nothing to do with luck or superstition. Autism did not seek my son out due to some spilled salt I inadvertently threw over my right shoulder instead of my left, or because in some drunken college day stupor, I failed to see a ladder and staggered right under it, autism has nothing to do with being lucky or unlucky. Just like that penny you find on the sidewalk, picking that penny up isn't what determines your luck, it's what you decide to do with that penny once you own it, that determines your luck.
I never once considered myself unlucky to have Ryan as my son, but, my friend Denial had me believe that autism was just a case of bad luck and there was nothing I could do about it since it was just the card Ryan was dealt. "Sorry about your luck", Denial said as she rubbed her rabbit's foot hoping my bad luck would not rub off on her.
It turns out, The A Word, like so many things, had nothing to do with luck or superstition. Autism did not seek my son out due to some spilled salt I inadvertently threw over my right shoulder instead of my left, or because in some drunken college day stupor, I failed to see a ladder and staggered right under it, autism has nothing to do with being lucky or unlucky. Just like that penny you find on the sidewalk, picking that penny up isn't what determines your luck, it's what you decide to do with that penny once you own it, that determines your luck.
Autism has made some things in life harder for Ryan and there are moments where I may think, "autism....of all the luck", but, most days, most moments, I feel like I have found a rare four leaf clover hidden among hundreds and hundreds of ordinary three leaf clovers. It took me a long, long, long time, to find that four leaf clover in the field of autism, and some days it's easier than others to see it, but, once I stopped feeling unlucky, once I saw that a four leaf clover, although different, stood out in a way that was not odd, but, beautiful, I recognized my good fortune.
Instead of worrying about the funny faces Ryan makes and the silly scripting that he does, I find myself in AWE, and I smile and feel pride at how lucky Ryan is to have such a phenomenal memory. Instead of feeling my heart break every day Ryan chooses to be alone, I feel lucky that he is able to entertain himself and find peace in such solitude. When I worry about Ryan being different and not "fitting in", I realize how lucky he is to just be himself and to believe and feel that he is "amazing" with little concern about how others see him. When Ryan tells me that he doesn't really have "too many friends", I feel lucky that Ryan has one friend with whom he can script away and feel safe being exactly who he is, exactly who he was meant to be. When I get frustrated that autism makes some things more difficult for Ryan than for others, I feel lucky knowing that things could be so much harder for him.
For 13 years, I have had a healthy, beautiful, funny, intelligent son who brings joy and love to my life. Life is full of cracks in the sidewalk that you step on, ladders that you just can't avoid, and black cats that come out of nowhere, but, it's your perception that determines your luck. Some folks may believe that Apollo 13 was a "failed mission", but, to the astronauts who survived that mission and to their familes who were so grateful for their safe return, there was nothing about that mission that was unlucky. And although a handful of evil people who had 13 letters in their name, may have had "the devil's luck', and committed unspeakable acts, fortunately, there are millions of people whose names are comprised of 13 letters who have done nothing, but, good, for this world such as, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi (I counted them all twice, for good luck, and yes, it's lucky 13).
So, even on your worst day when perhaps you are too busy texting on your phone and you fail to see that you and a black cat are about to walk under the same ladder, you can either pick that cat up and walk under that ladder together, and make your own luck, or you can run away and hide in the bushes, hoping that lucky rabbit's foot you are rubbing will bring you all the luck you need (the rabbit, says pick the cat up and run under the ladder). It's the choice you make that will determine your luck.
Instead of worrying about the funny faces Ryan makes and the silly scripting that he does, I find myself in AWE, and I smile and feel pride at how lucky Ryan is to have such a phenomenal memory. Instead of feeling my heart break every day Ryan chooses to be alone, I feel lucky that he is able to entertain himself and find peace in such solitude. When I worry about Ryan being different and not "fitting in", I realize how lucky he is to just be himself and to believe and feel that he is "amazing" with little concern about how others see him. When Ryan tells me that he doesn't really have "too many friends", I feel lucky that Ryan has one friend with whom he can script away and feel safe being exactly who he is, exactly who he was meant to be. When I get frustrated that autism makes some things more difficult for Ryan than for others, I feel lucky knowing that things could be so much harder for him.
For 13 years, I have had a healthy, beautiful, funny, intelligent son who brings joy and love to my life. Life is full of cracks in the sidewalk that you step on, ladders that you just can't avoid, and black cats that come out of nowhere, but, it's your perception that determines your luck. Some folks may believe that Apollo 13 was a "failed mission", but, to the astronauts who survived that mission and to their familes who were so grateful for their safe return, there was nothing about that mission that was unlucky. And although a handful of evil people who had 13 letters in their name, may have had "the devil's luck', and committed unspeakable acts, fortunately, there are millions of people whose names are comprised of 13 letters who have done nothing, but, good, for this world such as, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi (I counted them all twice, for good luck, and yes, it's lucky 13).
So, even on your worst day when perhaps you are too busy texting on your phone and you fail to see that you and a black cat are about to walk under the same ladder, you can either pick that cat up and walk under that ladder together, and make your own luck, or you can run away and hide in the bushes, hoping that lucky rabbit's foot you are rubbing will bring you all the luck you need (the rabbit, says pick the cat up and run under the ladder). It's the choice you make that will determine your luck.
Am I still superstitious? Yes. Do I still suffer from triskaidekaphobia?Undoubtly yes, since I waited until 6:14 to get out of bed this morning, but, today, as I post my 100th blog on my son's 13th birthday, I feel nothing but good fortune.
Since starting this blog I have had many comments, emails and phone calls from people telling me how lucky Ryan is to have me for his mommy. Funny thing is, I disagree. First and foremost, if we want to give this over to luck, than I am the one who is lucky, not Ryan. For some reason, I found the elusive four leaf clover and every day for 13 years, I have been able to marvel at my good luck.
For someone as superstitious as me though, I don't believe my relationship with Ryan has anything to do with luck at all. I was not destined to be Ryan's mommy because of luck, or fate, or because I could "handle it". The bond that Ryan and I have formed has nothing to do with a rabbit's foot, spilled salt, or an averted black cat, it is quite simply the love between a mother and her child. And although I still will avoid walking under ladders or getting out of bed at 6:13, one thing is for sure, when it comes to the love between a mother and her son, there is no such thing as "unlucky in love".
Happy 13th birthday my beautiful boy, I sure am lucky to have you.
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