There are so many times in our life with Curtis that remind us how different we are.  As he grows, we have to alter our existence less and less to accommodate his different way of thinking, as he has learned how to live in our world.  Of course, there was a recent incident where he locked himself in a friends' bathroom during a playdate because "his stupid sister was crying like a baby and i didn't want to hear it!"  But I am not writing about those moments right now.  I am writing about one time when Curtis was just like every other kid in an arena packed with 53,000 people.

When I opened the Taylor Swift tickets on Christmas day 2010, I was so excited I could burst.  Greg got me and Curtis the perfect gift.  Then I started to wonder how Curtis would react to a screaming crowd, if he would understand that we have to sit in our seats and can't walk right onto the stage, and would he be able to stray from his 8:30 bedtime to stay up late for a concert.  But the months passed and Curtis began to change...a lot.  He seemed to be understanding "our" world in ways I didn't expect he could.  And so Sunday, June 26th, 2011 arrived and we spent all day waiting to leave for the concert at 4:30pm.  And when 4:30pm arrived, Curtis hid in my bed under the covers and said, "I don't want to go to the Taylor Swift concert."  Classic Curtis.  So we let him chill out for a bit and put on our "no big deal" attitude and got out the door.

That night I got to dance and sing with my little boy like there was no tomorrow.  He had the absolute time of his life...and so did I.  He was just the same as every starstruck kid around us, except he kept asking what song she was going to play next (as if I knew) and what time it was almost every time a song started and ended. He also thought I should know the exact time at which the show would end, so I made a time up and came pretty close. I thought the fun would come to a screeching halt when fireworks went off mid-show, but to my pleasant surprise, Curtis' fear turned to a smile when I covered his ears and showed him how beautiful the lights were.  The next day he insisted upon wearing his Taylor Swift T shirt and told everyone we saw that he was up until 11pm and Taylor wore a red dress, a gold dress, a green-blue dress, a purple dress, and a black dress.

I think back to the poem I wrote three years ago about how hard Curtis has to work to do the things other kids do, and this concert was no different.  He spent years learning the skills to survive in that setting and it all paid off when I got to see him kick back and have fun just like every other kid there.

Laura, Mom


I was waiting for them in an adjacent parking lot in case all was not so smooth. I was reading "Born On A Blue Day" and getting devoured by bugs when I left my car but managed to avoid the $40 Gillette Stadium parking lot fee by hanging out in the parent drop-off. I knew Curtis would be fine because his mom would navigate the scene to make him feel as safe as possible. Then Taylor Swift would take care of the rest. I was glad they had so much fun and happy to drive them home. Curtis fell asleep about 7 minutes into the ride shortly after telling me I should not be going south on route one because we live north of Massachusetts. He was skeptical it was necessary to travel south briefly before heading north but didn't have the energy to wait it out.

Greg, Dad

At 5 feet and around a hundred pounds Curt's mom is small in stature but big in heart and determination. When his primary care doctor rebuffed our concerns by telling us Curtis was a late bloomer, it was his mom who insisted we get to a specialist. She knew something wasn't quite right with our son and that waiting it out wasn't the answer.

Since the time we got the Autism diagnosis she has undertaken a series of fights to make sure our son receives the help and services he is legally entitled too. His mom immediately enrolled him in an early intervention school so he could get the occupational and speech therapies that have allowed him to make incredible progress. Most of all she's a mom who loves her son unconditionally and for that, he is an eternally lucky boy. Here is a poem Curtis' mom wrote when he was about 4 years old.

Greg, Curt's dad

Curtie's Poem

I went to the park yesterday
And played with some kids
It may not seem like a big deal
But it is.

Just one year ago
All the same kids were there
But that was something
Of which I wasn't aware

I didn't know how
To wave or say "hi"
And when I did see them
I'd just keep running by.

My mommy didn't know
How different it could be
But yesterday that changed
She was so proud of me!

She saw me run up
To a boy and say "hi"
And say "she's sad"
When I saw a girl cry.

I said "I want goldfish"
When I wanted to eat
And then I ran off
On my two tiny feet.

Last summer it seemed
No matter how hard I tried
I just couldn't figure out
How to get down the slide.

So I'd wander in circles
And gaze at the sky
While the joys of a playground
Kept passing me by.

Yesterday I climbed
Up each rung of the ladder
Then ran across a bridge
With a sweet pitter-patter.

And next I climbed steps
One, two, and three
Then I sat on that slide
And came down with a "weeee".

I saw a new friend
Running on the paths
So I said "hi" and joined him
And we shared a few laughs.

For other kids these things
May come easily
But its been quite a bit
Harder for me.

So these things may not matter
For those who don't know
What my life was like
Just one year ago.

I went to the park yesterday
And played with some kids
It may not seem like a big deal
But it is.

Laura, Mom