The Awakening

I recently submitted the following short story into a "midlife" writer's contest.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did the vacation.

                                                                  The Awakening

Memories…I’m all into making memories.  I always have.  Living with an Autistic child makes you want to grab on to every good moment.  That’s what my husband of 24 years and I did this last month.  Joe thought it was about time.

You see…we raised two children, one healthy and the other Autistic.  Due to the deluge of doctor’s appointments, therapies, and fighting for his rights in school we preferred for me not to work outside the home.  Living on a one income makes for tight purse strings and while we did manage to save up twice for a family vacation there was never time for just us.  We didn’t even have date nights for lack of respite care for our son.  We didn’t live near family and as our son grew and his disability worsened our number of friends decreased, therefore we had no one to turn to for comfort or respite.  Alone time was fleeting and it can start to wear on a marriage.  We had made a pact early on however; to be partners in all that we did, making monetary decisions, raising our children, etc.  Being partners and best friends helped us through the tough years and enhanced the good times.

This year our son moved into an apartment complex suited for his needs.  A huge load has been lifted from our shoulders.  We are no longer his sole caretakers and that has given us a chance to some freedom.  Freedom to make a decision without having to take our son into consideration first.  Freedom to let ourselves breathe.

We went to Branson, MO. for a few days stay and started to get to know each other all over again.  We talked for hours, walked hand-in-hand on the shore, ate when and what we wanted.  We laughed.  We cried.  We dreamed…again.  We even went on an exhilarating zipline.  We wooed each other and reawakened the infatuation of young love all over again.