Zeroing (In) #AtoZChallenge

I made it!

I have reached the rest of the alphabet.  I zeroed in on my goal and achieved it.

I have 26 more posts than I had on March 31.

Now what?

I go forward, perhaps, and rethink blogging a book.  To do so, I am going to reread a series of A to Z posts I found in one of the many new blogs I read this month.  Shirley ran a series called Build a Better Blog, and it is chock-full of advice (such as this nugget).

Ironically, because I was too busy blogging (with A to Zing with two blogs - yikes!) I never had time to sit down with each and every one of the posts and really concentrate.

But for now I will zero in on the parts of her advice that speak to me.

And from there...I'll continue on my Unknown Journey Ahead.  Now that A to Z is over, I plan to resume my normal once a week (Friday) posting schedules.

But first, I would like to thank my new followers, and those who had already discovered my blog, for following and reading me.

A virtual bouquet of violets for you.

Zee End.

Eyeglasses #atozchallenge

 My theme for the Blogging with A to Z Challenge is - Journeying Through the Unknown. 

Today, a story about eyeglasses.  Such a common item, but even something like eyeglasses can turn into an experience when Bil is involved.

For years, my brother in law "Bil"wore the same pair of glasses.  He is autistic, and change can be traumatic for him.

We would travel to where Bil and my mother in law lived, about 150 miles from our house, several times a year. We never questioned him wearing what seemed to be the same glasses year after year.

We figured that Bil seemed always to have the same frames because he either didn't need new glasses or he insisted on using the same frames for new prescriptions. Or maybe he was able to find frames that looked like what he had been wearing for many years.  And I do mean many years.

In 2015, we had to move Bil and his mom up here, near us and another family member, because of my mother in law's declining mobility, and for other reasons.  Sure enough, about two months after the move, Mil had to be hospitalized.  A stint in rehab followed, so we were very much in Bil's life.

One day, he presented us with his glasses.  The frame had broken.

We managed to find a place that would fix it, but, in questioning his Mom, my husband discovered that Bil not been to an eye doctor.  For many years.

(insert some guilt here, but nosense in guilt, we must move forward.)

We had to get Bil to an optometrist.   Bil agreed to be examined.  The optometrist found Bil needed new glasses, all right.  In fact, he needed bifocals.  Fortunately, there weren't other issues.


Bil got his glasses  But then, shortly after, we noticed he was back to wearing the old, obsolete glasses.  We told Bil that he had to wear his new glasses.  On further investigation, we found he was having trouble getting used to them.

Because of cost, we had gotten lined bifocals for him (he has no vision insurance).  With (pun intended) 20-20 hindsight, perhaps we should have spent extra money on no lined, which would have been easier for him to adjust to.

And then the old glasses he insisted on wearing broke again....

I don't know yet how this situation will resolve itself.  Just another day in the life.

That's how it goes.

Christmas - #atozchallenge

Holiday time is dreaded by many families who have a member on the autistic spectrum. If you've joined me for the Blogging from A to Z challenge, you may have this same challenge.


My theme for A to Z is - Journeying Through the Unknown. 

I never knew my brother in law Bil when he was really young, to know how he behaved at Christmas time.  So many autistic children find the holidays a difficult, overstimulating time. Because Bil is in his late 50's, we don't suffer from that problem.  But, we don't always know what Bil thinks, because, so many times, he doesn't share his thoughts with us.

When my mother in law still lived in the home where Bil grew up we would exchange gifts, with Bil staring into space and not making eye contact with anyone.  Yet, you knew he was watching....observing.

He didn't seem to care.

But I quickly found out that this only meant that Bil had his own ways to show he wanted to be with us.

Bil picked (and still picks out) gifts with the utmost of care.  I don't know how much help his Mom gives him, but he always tries to base his gift on an interest the person has.  For instance, he know I love birds, so for a few years he gave me bird themed gifts.  A singing bird alarm clock (I don't use it as an alarm clock, but, after all this time, it still sings occasionally).  A bird jigsaw puzzle.  A bird pin.

Bil isn't shy about telling us what he wants.  It's mostly gift cards to his favorite stores.  He's quickly learned that gift cards allow him the freedom to choose what he wants to buy.

He is happy to be with family, but doesn't want to get involved in any of activities after dinner.  He wants to be with us, but on his own terms.

So he retreats to a far chair while we open gifts and talk.  He becomes an observer, only a participant when it's his turn.

Bil is fortunate, in a way, that he was born into a family that always allowed him to participate in the holidays in the ways that he wanted to.

I hope he, in turn, thinks we are "just right" for him.

"C" Day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.