@gingerw Volunteer Mentor, and everyone here, welcome back!!! Seems like we all have been very, very busy lately. Business trips, illness, training. You name it. Seems like the time of the year that is "supposed" to be the most relaxing turns out to be the busiest.

Well, in light of that observation, I have a proposition for all of us to consider. We already have our Volunteer Mentors here who are available to help wherever they can. We also have our virtual Spectrum Cafe where we drop by to relax with friends, new and old. (Creativity and imagination are very soothing to the soul, whether one is Neurotypical or on the Spectrum.)

Now, I would like to propose a sort of Book Club for our special group. Sharing our feelings about being adults on the Spectrum is what we are all about here. Whether you are an ally (A friend or family member who is encouraging and supportive of their Spectrumite) or whether you are a card carrying member of the Autie Society, you guys....there are so, so many awesome books out there just for us!

We are driving right now and I cannot reach the catalog I got in the mail. But surely by tomorrow, at the latest, I can return here with the names of a couple of books I really would like for us to read together. Knowledge is life. Truth is freedom. I for one am really excited about the possibilities for communication amongst the members of this community. When I looked at the titles before me, one after the other, I told myself "I have to get that one. And this one. Oh! That one is perfect!"

The older I get to be on this journey, the more I realize that I don't have to wear a mask any longer to fit in. I don't have to look at all the people who are "perfect" and have all the "right" answers for my image in the mirror. When I look in the mirror, I want to see me. Just me. I care about each and every person who comes here, whether they leave a post or ask a question or not. One of my goals in life is to treat myself the way I treat others.

You caught that, right? See, the thing is, we Auties tend to put ourselves last. We are so desperate for friends, we lack boundaries at times and tolerate injustices that others would not. Sweeping generalization, yes, I agree. But it happens.

Point. We have said it before and I will say it again. We are better together. Together we can share, learn, and grow. We can live life to the fullest, no matter what.

This is all I got for tonight, me lovelies. Let's talk more later, shall we?

Mamacita