When people see William or meet our family there is always one question that quickly follows. Actually, it often comes out as a statement.

“How do you do it all?” or “I don’t know how you do it!”

Yup, we live a bit of an unconventional life and William is at the heart of it all. But there’s an up side – many in fact.

 

Relationships.

My daughter got in the car the other night and told me that she was going to write her university application essay about her sister – the person she is most grateful for. After she read me a few lines I realized that without William, she may never have built the relationship she has with her sister.

“Mom, can we have a family movie night?” My girls want to spend time with us regularly – like any time they aren’t at school, they want to be doing stuff with us. Without William they may never have realized how precious family time is.

I know the slang words:

rizz, sus, skibidi, brain rot, gyatt and several more which makes me a little more cool in teen world. I learned these words all thanks to William and his speech language pathologist. I’m not sure knowing these words actually makes me more cool but I’d like to think so and William thinks it’s funny when I say them to him.

People!

We have met so many beautiful people because of William.

We have made incredible memories on trips that were just for William but included all of us.

William’s van

– it’s THE best vehicle…and the weirdest, so any time we drive it, with everyone in it, we always have a laugh. It looks like a mini school bus and it rattles with the lift in the back. The kids ride the lift with William and he thinks it’s so cool.

Our home is always alive.

There is always someone home, always someone to talk to, always someone willing to help, always someone willing to play or do something silly or take on a challenge, always someone willing to listen, always someone to keep a secret (after all William is non-verbal) and always someone to give you a hug.

Christmas is a no-brainer,

we celebrate at our home with William and if people want to include us, they have to come to us.

There are so many up sides to having William in our world. He is the most honest, loving, kind, gentle, sensitive little human that we are lucky to learn from and know. Being around him is a privilege – full of lessons, laughs, unconditional love, patience and acceptance. When we look at William we see a warrior, a fighter, perseverance, a little boy who tries so hard, a human who wants to love and be loved.

So how do we do it all? We just try to be more like William – challenge accepted!

~ Keely

Keely is an author and advocate for children living with disabilities. She lives on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia, with her husband, her son William who has cerebral palsy, her two daughters and several four-legged friends.