Parents of children with autism will never tell you that raising their child is easy…it’s not! I joke around, look for the silver lining, take things in stride, and present a smiley face to the world. However, raising my son, Steven, has been, and continues to be, an extremely difficult parenting challenge.

Memories of how hard it has been flooded back to me when my hubby and I went away for a romantic weekend at our little cabin in the woods of New Hampshire. With the sub zero weather whirling around outside, we were sitting on the couch sipping hot chocolate with lots of tiny, melting marshmallows. (Okay, maybe HE had some Kailua in his, but mine really DID just have marshmallows!) As the heat rose up from the small grate on the floor, I was transported back to the time when we first purchased the cabin. Because Steven had…