Compadres

It's not always easy to win a war on your own.  Depending on the size of your opponent, you may be able to defeat them in one swipe or you may be in the foxholes before you can count to three unless you get some serious backup.  It always helps to have someone there, just in case you need them, when you need them, to help you overcome your opponent.

Last August, we had Nyssa tested for some concerns we had.  Now, almost six months later, we finally received the psychologist's official written report on our daughter.  We needed the official documentation because otherwise it was just here say and not applicable to any agency to receive additional help for her.  It said about what we expected, Autism spectrum, uberbright, and ADD-Inatentive ~ but now it is official and she can finally get the help she needs to overcome some of her shortcomings.  It's been an uphill battle, one we may not have won had it not been for the aid of the head of the Student Support Team at Nyssa's school. 

I met with them last Friday, about two weeks ago now.  As has been for the last few times we've been in contact with one another, the SST leader asked us to please send in the psychological evaluation.  Once again, I had to tell them we had not yet received the report.  When they learned all I had done to this point to try to get the report, they decided to step in and contact the psychologist as well.  We double teamed and finally got what we needed.  It's amazing what a simple phone call from a school psychologist mentioning "legal action and a lack of professionalism" can do.  I hate that such threats had to be made, but we had already used up all other options.

Something that was not mentioned to me six months ago was another set of difficulties Nyssa has, which the school's SST team had suspected but, without the formal diagnosis, was left with their hands tied behind their backs.  Now, we can finally begin to face the opponent head on, together, with the weapons we need to help Nyssa address her shortcomings.  Now she finally has a fighting chance. 

Not that it's going to be easy.  Oftentimes, when we face our giants, we may already have some idea of what we are fighting.  But we still have to face these issues that loom larger than life over our heads.  We see them, and sometimes we are intimidated and overwhelmed by them.  The trick is not in just seeing how big they are, but in recognizing who is on our side.

We were never meant to face life on our own.  We can prepare as much as possible, but circumstances will always come at us, attacking us from the middle of nowhere.  But we need to take heart and remember the prize.  What is waiting for us?  Is it a child who overcomes developmental difficulties?  An illness that threatens to take us from those we love?  Is it a marriage that seems it has lost its way?  Is it frustration with a job or an employer who seems impossible to work for?  Whatever the situation, there is always light at the end of the tunnel, waiting for us, if we will only not lose heart and look for it.

Yes, we may lose some battles along the way, we may even lose our way for a time.  But as long as we remember to look to the Light, then the war has already been won.  We are just learning and developing character along the way.  I still have to remind myself daily that, yes, though the end is important, so is the journey itself and the roads I chose to travel and how I choose to travel them.  Right now, it's by placing one foot in front of the other and making sure I stay in the company of fellow soldiers who will hold me up when I feel to weary to stand on my own,who will defend me and who will help me fight.  Because honestly, that is the only way any of us will survive this experience we call life on earth as we know it.