Do I write often anymore just for me? Nope. Can I write about anything other than my favorite books? Also possibly, no. Once upon a time I would make a favorite book list every six months. I think I’m currently on the 18 month plan so if you’re still here– thank you for hanging on. […] The post I gave five stars to every one of these books appeared first on By Jessica Watson ..read more

Do I write often anymore just for me? Nope. Can I write about anything other than my favorite books? Also possibly, no. Once upon a time I would make a favorite book list every six months. I think I’m currently on the 18 month plan so if you’re still here– thank you for hanging on. […] The post I gave five stars to every one of these books appeared first on By Jessica Watson ..read more

I could fill a book with the number of things I did not know about having an autistic adult. From the time my daughter turned 18 life has been a crash course in post-high education, independent living and finances. Despite what everyone says about preparing yourself, 90% of life after 18 is fumbling around in the darkness hoping you’re doing things right. The other 10% is getting letters in the mail from official places like the Office of Social Security telling you how you did things wrong. Rather than write a book because I’ll never finish it, I’m going to break down one of the most confusin ..read more

Apparently books are my coping mechanism for all the things. I have read my way through the last few years like a negative on my COVID tests depends on it. Adding in audiobooks has probably tripled my book reading speed as well. I can’t stop you guys, someone take my Kindle. Actually don’t. My mental health depends on reading the books– all the books. Rather than fill this entire post with my ramblings on my love for books (which I absolutely could do) I’ll share with you my latest Must Read books. Here are my favorites of the favorites from the past months. Add them to your lists, reserve the ..read more

Most autism parents will tell you they have more than enough autism awareness. They will say autism is their life 24/7 and they are more aware than they ever thought they would be. It’s tough to find anyone who doesn’t know someone with autism. The world is finally shifting to a time when the autism community is asking for acceptance because we are all aware. But… there is a huge part of autism that people are not aware of– that I was not aware of until we reached the phase of autism we will be in for the rest of my daughter’s life. The part where Ashlyn is an adult and has no freedom over her ..read more

Nearly every time I took my kids out in public when they were little a sentimental senior would remind me to enjoy them or tell me how quickly they would grow– how precious these days were. Sometimes they would offer their well-meaning advice when the kids were holding hands and happy and no one had fought over anything in 32.5 seconds. But sometimes it was while I was wrestling a wriggling kid under my arm, carrying bags under my eyes and a heavy side of grief. There was a long answer I want to give them but I never offered it. I’d smile and say “I do” or “I know” or offer a “yes, this is ama ..read more

October 15th is International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. It marks the end of a marathon of anniversary dates for us. We lost Hadley on October 11 so having this day so soon after fits with the mood of the month. Every year I’m still fighting off my grief hangover from our anniversary dates and this remembrance day finishes off our emotional week. The good (if you can call it that) thing about being 14 years into this journey is that I’ve got this remembrance day down. I know what I want to do, how I want to pay tribute to the many other loss families I’ve connected with and whe ..read more

Like everyone else I’ve spent more time home in 2020 than I could have ever imagined. With all this time at home has come a ton of books and some extra time to actually read them. My list of favorites is growing again so it’s definitely time for another book list. It took me a while to narrow them down but I think I’ve got it down to my top 12 of 2020. Full disclosure, it takes me way too long to finish blog posts these days. While working on this post I may have read a few more books so there’s a 2021 pick or two on this list. Here’s everything I’ve loved lately that you should absolutely add ..read more

Years ago I stuck a photo to the side of our fridge of Mark and I at our wedding shower. I loved the reminder of our early days until I didn’t anymore. Hollowed out by grief I would stare at that photo and wonder who that girl was smiling effortlessly at the camera. Eventually I took the photo down. It was too hard to reconcile how the sparkle of a future in front of us had changed to an impossible lifetime without one of our children. I didn’t recognize myself anymore. I’ve made peace with the person I became after we lost our daughter and thought a lot about what I would tell her if I could ..read more

A ..read more