Currently, I'm relaxing in Boulder and doing my best to figure out the next steps of this wacky thing called 'life'. The greatest part of all this is I'm surrounded by one of my mentors and still feeling the effects of the Autism Society of America conference.
The joke came up several times last week about how several of us go to the Autism Society of America conference to be social. It's a once a year trip most of us make to unite us from across the country. Navigating the whirlwind of meetings and presentations, either giving or attending, we still manage to reconnect in the hallways or in the evening.
On the last night of the conference, what was only going to be a brief dinner with an old friend and my mother turned into something so much better. It started by inviting new friends to join us. That quickly turned to other friends showing up and soon we were taking over a large section of comfy couches. The evening was spent talking about everything as we watched lightning dance across the Denver skyline.
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That last night before the end of the conference, I was stressed and very nervous about my early morning presentation looming the next morning. My topic for the Sisterhood of the Spectrum panel was "Authenticity". At 8:30 in the morning, still adjusting to Mountain Standard Time compared to Eastern Standard Time, I would speak about the importance of embracing who you are and knowing others have walked the similar path.
One of the greatest things I have come to understand and accept is that I have people in my life who truly care about me. There are people in the world who genuinely want to support others and wish the best for them. I am one of those people and am very thankful for being surrounded by the same type of people. My people are kind and care about each other. This is something very special I was able to be reminded of at the conference.
Sometimes the best parts of the conference are not covered in the program guide.
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