Mom reading to Loren, about age 4. My cousin Roz Miller Walker is channeling my brother Loren. Roz is the daughter of my first cousin Maria Tirone and niece of Maria's brother Skip. Actually, she may be channeling all three, whose souls must be together somewhere in the universe. Loren felt especially close to Skip and Maria, as did Andy and I. These two wonderful people died early of long battles with relentless MS (Multiple Sclerosis), a painful struggle and an even greater loss suffered by my Aunt Loretta and Uncle Steve. I cannot imagine losing both of my children and going on with life. But my Aunt did that, with profound sadness but with an inner strength that must have come from a higher power. My mom always felt that about her sister.
Loren writes about a time when our Mom caught Skip and Loren, who learned from each other as young boys, throwing stones at cars, and punished them my making them go down to our recreation room and listen to Ravel's "Bolero." Loren remembers Skip fondly as a bright light in his early life, and he also thought our cousin Maria was the most beautiful girl he ever knew.
Roz looks just like her mother, and more than that, she is as gentle and compassionate and creative as her mom. She is a psychologist in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she lives with her talented husband Christopher. She and her mom, my Aunt Loretta, are reading Loren's autobiography, An Asperger Memoir, and learning a lot about some family stories and recalling many memories.
Roz emailed recently to say how much the book means to her, and how helpful it is. She says "I told a mom whose child I feel may have Asperger's about it and she gave me the money for a book. Her son is 20 and while she's often asked doctors about it, no one has made the diagnosis. She said it was a blessing to talk with me because I am the first person who has validated her gut feeling. Loren's book helped me formulate questions I might not have otherwise asked. It was so cool. I feel like I'm going to help a lot more people through Loren."
I think so too. And for Loren this alone would have made the whole effort to remember and record his struggles and his triumphs worth it. There may be a message here from Loren, maybe from the angels, I'm not sure. But Roz's story brought Loren back, and I hugged him.
Loren writes about a time when our Mom caught Skip and Loren, who learned from each other as young boys, throwing stones at cars, and punished them my making them go down to our recreation room and listen to Ravel's "Bolero." Loren remembers Skip fondly as a bright light in his early life, and he also thought our cousin Maria was the most beautiful girl he ever knew.
Roz looks just like her mother, and more than that, she is as gentle and compassionate and creative as her mom. She is a psychologist in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she lives with her talented husband Christopher. She and her mom, my Aunt Loretta, are reading Loren's autobiography, An Asperger Memoir, and learning a lot about some family stories and recalling many memories.
Roz emailed recently to say how much the book means to her, and how helpful it is. She says "I told a mom whose child I feel may have Asperger's about it and she gave me the money for a book. Her son is 20 and while she's often asked doctors about it, no one has made the diagnosis. She said it was a blessing to talk with me because I am the first person who has validated her gut feeling. Loren's book helped me formulate questions I might not have otherwise asked. It was so cool. I feel like I'm going to help a lot more people through Loren."
I think so too. And for Loren this alone would have made the whole effort to remember and record his struggles and his triumphs worth it. There may be a message here from Loren, maybe from the angels, I'm not sure. But Roz's story brought Loren back, and I hugged him.
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