Summer was spent with my family. I thought it was one of the nicest experience especially for Amor.  
Amor could look like a typical child who is simply stubborn. Sometimes we forget, and we take for granted that she still has special needs. She is still unable to fully express herself using the form of communication that is “acceptable” by our social norms. Her brother Ian, for example, easily expresses, “Can you play with me?” while Amor still has to find ways to get attention. She usually gets that attention by pushing people’s “buttons”. Yep…that’s my daughter!

Throughout that summer holiday, everyone was always busy. So Amor pushed those buttons to get attention. She would pluck and throw flower petals on the floor and call out, “Lola Elvie, look….” Because Lola Elvie was the one who made the beautiful flower arrangements. As soon as my mom entered the room, Amor would switch the lights on & off because she knew my mom would rush to her telling her to stop playing with the lights. She would toss and spill the cat’s water bowls and call out “Tita Sana….” because those where her cats. When my sister was around, Amor would kick the dogs, which are practically my sister’s children. My sister would give an knee-jerk reaction saying, “I won’t love you anymore if you do that!” When my sister-in-law heard Amor calling her name, she feared, “Oh, no I wonder what Amor did this time?”…That time Amor threw all of her cousin’s toys down the stairs. My brother though he was doing a good job keeping his cool while Amor kept trying to find that perfect button to push. He was…until Amor came over to hit her cousin on the head 😁. That made my brother’s eye just twitch a little while he was still trying his best not react.

It was my sister’s words that made me think and express to her that in common situations, people are going to have a hard time finding reason to even just like Amor. If my family were not able to love Amor, who then will? And it’s precisely the unconditional love that Amor needs right now to continue her journey and hurdle over her special needs and get to recovery.

With time and more explanations, my family did great! They all learned to turn off their push buttons. And yes, Amor kept trying and trying until it was no longer fun because all the buttons were off. And no matter how “naughty” she might have seemed, they learned to love her even more. 

I thought it was a nice opportunity for everyone to understand and appreciate Amor better. I’m also amazed at how smart Amor is at really understanding everyone and finding what it was that made each person tick.  

In the photo, Amor in a purple dress  and her loving extended family.