on my mind

i had a different plan for today, but yesterday was an interesting day. i decided to save my original plan for next week sometime. i got a text from my sister first thing this morning asking about a girl we went to high school with. she has been battling pancreatic cancer for 4 years. i've seen a lot of posts to and about her on facebook the past week so i knew she must not be doing well. she passed away wednesday night. even though i haven't been in touch with her since high school, the news really hit me. this young, beautiful, happy, positive mother of a darling little boy is now gone. cancer is literally the worst. although the news of her passing really hit me, it was also so encouraging to read so many uplifting posts from friends and family. she was such an amazing person and touched so many lives. it makes me want to live my life so other people might say the same kinds of things about me. even though she's gone, i know she will continue to touch many lives. autism is on the rise. when i started working with children with autism in 2001, the rate of incidence was 1/200. yesterday the CDC released yet another increase in rate.   photo from autismspeaks.org
there is so much research happening right now, and there is still so much to learn. april is autism awareness month. there will be lots of autism talk around here in the next few weeks, but for now this new statistic is on my mind. in happier news...

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