10 Things I Love About Tommy

1. Your feelings are clear. There is no manipulation, no deceit. The cards of Tommy Hedin are ON THE TABLE.

2. You see so many things and process them in such a different way...I love to watch your face as we drive along through life...

3. You take joy in so many things! You love water, sand, kicking balls, swimming, pouring, jumping, swinging, and being with loved ones...and it's all FUN!

4. You are a complete and total nonconformist. You don't give a dang what anyone else is doing or what anyone else thinks about what you are doing. Peer pressure? What the heck is that?

5. When you hear new music, you tilt your head to once side and listen completely. You hear every harmony, every acoustic, and you appreciate every sound with joy. You have a musician's heart. One of the joys of my life is watching your reaction to a brand new song...you have GREAT taste in music.

6. You help us weed out the weenies from our life. Those who can't handle the "nitty gritty" of autism, those who are fair-weather friends...the ones remaining have always loved us and always will...and they are flexible and open to differences....they LIKE diversity, and even better, they want their children to understand and embrace diversity as well.

7. You love us. You see us. You know us, you really do know us.

8. You love food and you love to eat...it's a blessing and a curse, but you DO have good taste in food--and dinner with you is a true celebration.

9. You can learn, you want to learn, and you are learning. It may not be in the pace, or in the way we all expected, but it's still wonderful--even better, you have shown us that there are different ways to learn, and especially different ways to see life.

10. You are my baby, and I got to have a baby and experience all the great things about raising a child. Maybe a wild child, maybe a different child, but a child full of love and adventure. And a child with a heart. I get to help you get dirty! Play with you and regress (though at times it seems like progress) into childhood fun....laugh with you at funny stuff...have the privilege of being your parent and experiencing the singular joys of parenthood.