Look who is 14! 

This guy turns 14 today!  I still cannot believe he will soon be in High School!  Leaving his childhood behind, and growing into an adult.  When Cole Elijah Long made his way into our lives, it was fast and unexpected!  He came 6 weeks early!  He was so tiny and so perfect!

A simple joy to all of us!  MeMaw ( my mother Fern) said he was her dark haired baby, as Adam Mykal had blond hair and she had hoped again that Coles, would remain dark and it has!  Mom, is looking down from Heaven and is proud of Cole I am certain!  She loved him so much, and they had such a special relationship.

He has amazed us, as he navigates his world, through Autism.  He has taught us so much, about the human spirit and how tough he truly is!  Cole was non verbal until right before he started Kindergarten.  He worked tirelessly with a speech therapist here in our home, multiple times a week to help bring about him talking.  She was an angel sent to us, and we will never forget Abby and how he would run screaming NO, when he would see her drive up!  She never gave up, she found innovative ways to teach and help Cole.  She was not versed in Autism, her degree was in sign language.  Still, she researched and found ways to break through to him.  It worked, and he has not stopped talking since. LOL

I was with Nichole, the day we got his diagnosis when he was 2.  We both cried on that long drive home from Bloomington, where we had spent the day going through all the testing.  I found myself thinking about "RainMan" and all the struggles in life that Cole would now face.  Ringing out loudly in my brain, was the Psychiatrists words to us, "Our goal for Cole, will be when he is 17, that you look at him and you will not know he is Autistic"!  He is certainly on his way to that milestone.  

 His love of Math is deep, he wants to be a Math teacher one day he tells us.  This is his medal he got in competition at Math Counts at Bradley University!  He continues to exceed and excel, getting all A's and B's in school.  This year he is navigating online learning due to COVID-19.  This is 8th grade, a pivotal year, as he will be joining Adam at Richwoods High School next fall.  He is doing very well with this unconventional way of learning at his age.  Way to go Cole!

He flew on his first airplane this past December, to Park City Utah, for Sam and Charlie's wedding, he went with Gramps and Dustin.  He had a blast.  I love this photo of him so much! We had no idea how he would handle the flight and he was fine.  Alan told me he was so surprised at how calm and collected he was during take off's and landings and he was just great all the way around.  Transitions and change were hard a time ago, for him, and now he is integrating them so well.  So, perhaps the Psychiatrist was right, when he is 17 we won't be able to tell.  But, I will tell you, we would never change him for the world.  His Autism is what makes him special.  He sees our world completely differently.  He views it in ways we cannot even fathom.  

Once we accepted this is who he was, and embraced him, his growth exploded.  It is not about changing him at all or curing him, as some people think.  These minds are special and some of our most creative and technical minds in our history work just like his.  I see great things in my grandsons future.  He loves statistics and math those things alone, will help him do well in life.  He is so loving and caring, and I believe he will find love and he wants a family and children.  He is the best big brother to Jackson.  Whom he swore was going to be a sister, and was upset when he found out he wasn't.  He has grown to love this boy, and he cares for him and I love watching them together, as they jump for hours on the trampoline. 

 He loves to build things, and he has done some wonderful projects!  So the sky is the limit for this one!  I am proud of him, and so glad I get to be his Grams!  He makes me more accepting and less judgmental and those are good things.  He is one special soul, and I look forward to watching him as he continues life's journey!

Love you Cole Elijah,

Grams

Kristin