We were BOOed!

Tonight the boys and I decided to carve the pumpkins in preparation for Halloween on Friday. Joaquin was in his bouncy seat in the kitchen, Mateo was on a stool so he could watch cautiously and my big boy Diego was elbow deep in pumpkin mush trying to save the seeds for his Papa to roast later on for snacks.

We went out to the front porch to see the finished products in their full candle glory and lo and behold there was a little package waiting for the boys with a big BOO sign on it. Someone had anonymously left a very thoughtful gift bag for the boys with instructions on how to keep the BOO going in the neighborhood. The boys were so thrilled and ran around the house shouting we were BOOed, we were BOOed!!! Joaquin was smiling in his chair sensing all the excitement in the house.

I couldn't help but smile too. We are a NORMAL family! I know this might sound silly and crazy but another one of my early fears after learning about Joaquin's diagnosis was that our family might not be fully accepted in the community or that we would feel isolated and alone. I worried that my friendships would change or disappear. I worried that possibly Diego and Mateo's friendships would be affected. I feel ridiculous writing this now but these were some of the terrible fears that just bombarded me very early on.

Thank God these fears were unfounded and honestly, it's been quite the opposite experience. Since learning about Joaquin's diagnosis, I have felt more of a community around us than ever before. I feel the love and support from neighbors, friends, and even strangers in this wonderful online blog community. I look forward to raising my kids in my neighborhood, literally surrounded by great families with huge hearts. I can't wait to watch all the neighborhood kids grow up together and to have Joaquin be someone they all adore and protect. Suddenly the world is a feeling like a kinder, safer, sweeter place for us to live in.

And all it took was a little BOO sign to remind us of this!