Well... She has accepted help!!!!!! So far, so good. (Another long one. Sorry;)

[Guest guest]

Wow, the events over the past couple of weeks are almost too good to

be true, and a bit unbelievable, if you ask me. You know that

famous Bible phrase, " Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall

find...? " I don't want to jinx myself, but there might just be

something to that.

You might remember me working on trying to both find someone to help

my parents with my brother Jeff (DS-Autism) and also attempting to

convince my mom to accept help. When I say " help, " I mean allowing

someone to come in and watch Jeff in order to give them more of a

break. So, my first step was contacting a group called St. Louis

Arc, which provides respite care and financial assistance for

respite care. I sent the organization an email giving them a

rundown of my brother's personality, and asking for their most

talented person's contact information.

A few days later I received one of the most thoughtful replies. The

lady who responded sent all kinds of information on three people she

thought could help us. Their names, experience, contact

information, education, and skills. After reading all the

information she sent, I was determined to find a fit for Jeff, and I

liked my odds.

The first person I contacted was a gentleman named . He is

about my age, 31, and works at the main St. Louis Arc office, which

is not far from where my parents live. I sent him an email to find

out if he would be interested in working with my brother, not as a

babysitter, but as someone who would really work with him, take him

places, and challenge his abilities. I explained Jeff's personality

to him, and sent him the email along with my telephone number.

A few hours later he called me. We talked for about 10 minutes,

mostly about Jeff, but also about him and how he runs a camp for

kids similar in personality to my brother. " I work with kids like

Jeff for a living, and I'm good at it, " he tells me. He then went

on to rattle off all his qualifications and certifications, using

acronyms he apparently figured I would understand, but which I had

no clue what they stood for... well, except for CPR.

I ended the conversation by telling him that I would talk to my dad

and would hopefully be able to set up a time for him to meet Jeff

and my parents. I told my dad about the conversation I had, that

seemed to have a lot of potential, and, leaving 's number

at my dad's desk, suggested he give him a call.

The next morning, when I got to work (I work with my dad), I saw

some notes my dad had written on a pad of paper at his desk. It was

clear evidence he had spoken to . My dad arrived to work with

Jeff, and I asked him how the conversation with went. He said

that it went well and that would be coming over to the house

that evening.

AWESOME... But, it gets even better, and I couldn't have asked for

more.

That evening, probably around 7:30 I get a call from my mom.

" ny!!! Do you know who was just over our house!? Oh my God.

You remember don't you? "

" Remember ? " I asked. " Mom, remember, I was the one who found

. "

" No... I know that. But, you remember , don't you? who

used to live on the next street and who you used to play Atari with

in the basement and ride bikes with in the neighborhood? " she asked.

" Snyder?! " I replied

" Yes, Snyder from the next street. "

" Holy sh-t. "

Well, to make a long story longer, it turns out this guy I found was

an old buddy of mine from my boyhood days. For some reason I hadn't

recognized the name earlier. Weird, huh? The good part of all of

this was my mom always liked , and really liked his mom. So,

there it was. Acceptance from my mom.

Now, it is still early, and I don't know how this is all going to

turn out. But, it has started, and that was my goal. And, so far,

so good.

has spent time with Jeff on three occasions now, and the

reports are all positive, from my parents and both. Plus,

and I have shared a couple of good laughs, reminding each other of

what the other had one time done.

Keeping my fingers crossed,

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