"A Mother's Pride" By Melanie Ouellette.   When my son Erik, who is special needs, asked me if I would speak for him at his graduation ceremony, I was proud to say "yes," and almost immediately my memories of almost fainting when I had to give an oral book report in front of my high school English class started coming back to haunt me.

I was joking around with Erik and asked him what I was supposed to say. He said “You know Mom, things like how proud you are of me and stuff”.   Well, I am proud of him. He has his ups and downs, but has always made me proud. Proud that he grew up knowing that drugs and alcohol are bad. Proud that he isn’t afraid to show his emotions and say I love you to his mother or father before he goes to bed at night or before he hangs up the phone. I am proud of him for the kind, caring person that he is. A person that is caring enough to cover up and tuck in an old dog, before she goes to sleep at night.   Since the beginning, his life has been full of challenges, but he didn’t give up. He didn’t give up when he was a baby and was hanging on to his premature life. When he was faced with the basic, yet difficult challenges of walking and talking, he didn’t give up and kept trying. And when faced with the challenges of school, difficulty making friends, bullying, taunting or teasing, and when he felt like everyone was against him, he didn’t give up. He kept going.    I am proud of him for his goals and dreams, no matter how big or small. He has dreams of attending a college some day. He has a dream of making video games and making a “wicked bunch of money”,  which he will need for his dream of someday owning a Lamborghini Diablo. I am proud of him for those dreams.    I am proud of him for making the choice to stay at Farmington Valley to finish his senior year because he was happy there and HE knew that it was the right choice for him. Most of all I will stand proud of him for accomplishing one of the most important goals in his life and not giving up – he finished High School.      I am VERY proud of Erik. I look at him now and part of me wishes I could go back 18 years to start all over again, but an even bigger part of me, gives him a hug, looks him in the eye and tells him that I love him and that I couldn’t be more proud than I am today to have him as my son. Copyright 2008 Melanie Ouellette All Rights Reserved   About the Author: Melanie Ouellette is employed as a Service Coordinator for a Commercial HVAC Vendor. She is also a Licensed Barber and Nail Technician, and has a degree in Computer Science. Melanie loves writing children's stories and poems, and enjoys snowmobiling in Vermont and Northern Maine with her husband, Bill. She is also the parent of two children: a US Sailor, and a special-needs teenager. Currently, she resides in Connecticut. You can contact Melanie at melaniejpitt@att.net