So check out the cartoon "Clear Blue Water" from yesterday, if you want a cry. I'm many years past this stage, but it still makes me sad to remember.

I just started working for a support/advocacy organization, and one of the things I do is take calls. Which I've had to do many times as SEPTA goddess, so it's not like I've never heard these stories, or lived them. But still. I can remember the grief and fear at the beginning; it's affected me as much as anything ever has in my life.

I know it gets better, for some families much better. And I admire the parents who see so much beauty in their children's lives: Kristen Chew of AutismLand, for example. But the beginning is such a dark time.