Our oldest son has a moderate developmental delay. He is eight years old but developmentally is more like a five year old.  The specialists say he should continue to develop, he'll just do it slower than everyone else. When he's 14, he'll be like an 11-year-old, and so on. He goes to a regular school, he spends quite a bit of time in a regular classroom, he loves basketball, and he wants to be a chef when he grows up. We have spent a lot of time wondering about his future. There are so many unanswered questions. Will he be a chef, or have a career of any kind? Will he live on his own or forever be with us? And then there are the hard questions, like does he get picked on at school? 

     It was just a regular day. I arrived at my son's school and walked into the gym with all the other parents.  We all stood around waiting for our children to come barreling into the gym, ready to go home. The other parents looked just as worn out by the day as I was. Conversations filtered around me, as they chatted with each other about the challenges they were each facing. There was a tired resignation in the air. But when our kids were herded in by their teachers, I saw something that made a smile bloom in my heart.