On the Eve of 21

Kurt's 21st birthday is tomorrow.

Many thoughts are running through my mind:

• "If Kurt were a cat, he'd have eight lives left." That's how his neurologist put it when Kurt survived a drug-induced coma. He has lived 12 years longer than the doctors in the Pediatric ICU expected.
• The smallest steps since then have seemed like miracles.
• I have to remember when Kurt refuses to do something, that in the past, he may not have been capable of the task. Now he is, but the refusal is his strong will showing. That trait has been his saving grace.
• Over the years, I have come to accept that Kurt will never be independent because of his cognitive disability due tragically to the seven years of uncontrolled seizures. Kurt is working to prove me wrong. He wants to make his own decisions and I must learn to give him some space. 
• He is on the cusp of his own version of independence.

Happy Birthday Kurt! Love, Mom