We only have today 6/12

Pickles

My son Tyler is 19 years old. He has a diagnosis of autism. This means that he communicates in a different manner. His focus is unbelievably strong and his heart is as pure as they come.

He has refused to see the sickness in our cat Pickles who has a cancer diagnosis. Up until this point he just kept saying that Pickles was doing great and that he was getting better.

Until yesterday….

Tyler saw the struggle in Pickles. I was out and when I came home Tyler was in a bit of a panic. He told me Pickles was hiding under my dresser and when he went to pet him, he was breathing funny.

So many tears. It just hit Tyler and immediately he said “I don’t want him to die but I don’t want him to suffer.”

We are now in this together. We talked at length about different avenues of letting Pickles go. Ideally we decided we could talk to Pickles and let him know it is ok to go when he is ready.

We also agreed if we saw Pickles in pain we would take measures if necessary. There is a service that can come right into our home if needed.

At the end of our conversation Tyler looked at me and said “I always forget this but…one day at a time mom, one day at a time.”

Amen.