You’ve Got A Friend In Me

Dear Addie,

Kindergarten friends. Both of you born into a world that wasn't built with either of you in mind. The struggles were (& are) daily, the challenges are real.

Life went ahead and did what life does. It stretched the distance between you two, carrying you both down different roads until your everyday lives were separated by miles and miles. It could have been the end of your story…

Spoiler alert - it wasn’t and I’m grateful everyday for that.

Instead, an ocean, a surfboard, and a remarkable group of volunteers with Surfing For Autism in the Outer Banks became the bridge that would bring you back together. And somehow, despite the years and the distance, you both pick up something that had never really been lost.

To most people, his sounds are different. Unexpected. To you, they are simply him, your kindergarten friend you’ve always known. Your ears, so often overwhelmed by a world that's too loud, somehow found peace in the rhythm of his voice. The sounds that others might notice just fade into the background because your heart had already recognized the person making them.

Then there's the iPad.

For him, it isn't just a screen. It's familiarity. It's safety. It's something he guards closely because it helps him make sense of the world. Yet with you, something extraordinary happens. It becomes ours instead of mine. Shared without expectation. Understood without explanation.

The two of you have created a place that exists outside the expectations of everyone else, a world where differences don't need to be explained, where acceptance comes naturally, and where friendship isn't measured by words but by trust, quiet understanding, and the comfort of simply being together.

People often say the world should be more inclusive. Watching the two of you, it feels like you've quietly built the kind of world everyone else has been trying to imagine.

An ocean brought you back together. A surfboard gave you a place to reconnect. But love, acceptance, and a friendship that never forgot where it began revealed that time and distance, never stood a chance. At the root of it all, you were still those two kindergarten friends who simply understood each other and will forever and always.

Love you Addie.

Mom