Be gone joy-thief

I was elated when I read this blog post by Anchel Krishna at Today's Parent. It's about her daughter, who has challenges speaking, having a "real conversation" with words.

When asked about her day at school, Anchel's daughter offers up what she considers the most salient piece of information: "Cried a little bit," she tells her mom and grandmother, ignoring their specific questions. "She had a message, she had something she wanted to tell me... and she told me," Anchel writes.

I also felt heartache when I read Anchel's post. I will never hear my son say words like that, I thought.

Remember that old saying: Comparison is the thief of joy (Theodore Roosevelt)? I couldn't help comparing my son's abilities with Anchel's daughter's and feeling that twinge of regret and loss.

But then today, when my son got off the bus, he presented me with his own version of: "Cried a little bit."

In sign, he told me "I had a bad day and I couldn't stop blowing my nose (he does this when anxious). I'm sorry."

Like Anchel's daughter, my son was sharing what he wanted to tell me. And I had to think: Does it matter if it's not in audible words?