A Journey of a Thousand Tears...

Timothy rarely does anything just once if it lends itself to repetitive behavior and so; while we, The Earnest Parents, laid out our case for the good doctor B. every cabinet door in the exam room got slammed repeatedly. Dr. B, pediatrician, listened as best he could and then recommended a speech pathologist.

We, the Earnest Parents, again laid out our case at Dr. G's, speech pathologist, while Timothy careened out of the room and down the hall several times, threw all the toys in the office everywhere, jumped off of Dr. G's sofa, hammered on the computer keyboard with Dr. G's coffee cup, and tried to bite me when I stopped him.

We were somewhat oblivious to this behavior as being unusual. Hyperactive? Oh yes; we'd allow that...aren't all boys a little hyper, but by now we were partly blind to it. This was normal.

To her credit, Dr. G did her best to pay attention to what we were saying while her office was being dismantled.

Just about the time he ripped the diamond pane inserts out of the office windows, Dr. G. stated that this seemed like more than a speech issue ...much more...and she was recommending him for a psychological evaluation. My wife asked, in that Earnest Parent tone, "Do you think there's something wrong?"

Dr. G looked directly at both of us, blinked once, and said: "Yes, I think there is."

Silence.

My heart skipped a beat...I'm sure my wife's skipped two beats. An uncomfortable cold numbness started to bloom in the center of my chest.

The diamond pane insert bounced off the edge of the desk and time re-started. We both blurted out, "What? What is it?!". Dr. G. stated that it was not for her to say as she stood and started to pick up the hurricane damage. When we pressed her, she said that she had, "some ide....No. It was not for her to make a diagnosis."

The meeting was over.

My wife instantly broke into tears while I thought, "I knew this was coming. I felt it." and my shoulders dropped, defeated.

"Yes, I think there is."...Our entire life changed course forever on those five words.