I worked my way through college by taking care of handicapped kids for wealthy families. I am a fairly big and strong guy, so the families loved me because I could life their children in and out of their wheelchairs with ease.
I also got to see the effect having a disabled child has on a relationship. I literally had parents tell me that they were not going to be “cheated out of their best years” because their teenage children could not live like normal teenagers. At the time, I thought the parents were just being selfish. I thought, if you have a child, you’re supposed to love them no matter what, right? Even if it means having to watch them like they are an infant perpetually.
Anyway, that was 15 years ago, and now I have a different career and three children of my own. And now I understand what those parents were feeling. While I love my children with all of my heart, I am also excited for the day when my wife and I can be alone again. If I find out later that one of my children have something like autism, something that we couldn’t diagnose by now, I would be crushed, both for them and for myself.
