As I was tucking Taylor into bed the other night, I turned to leave the room and said, “Goodnight, Taylor. I love you!”

Her response?

“I read that pitbulls are only aggressive if they feel threatened or if their owners teach them to be aggressive.”

Yup, just living that autism parenting life, lol.

In all seriousness though, many parents of autistic children rarely hear their children reciprocate feelings. It wasn’t until Taylor was 9 years old — when I had literally told her thousands of times that I love her — that Taylor responded one random night with, “I love you too, mommy.”

I left her room that night with shocked and happy tears in my eyes and immediately went to tell Blake. He had the same experience with her just a few nights later. After so many years of not hearing those words from my little girl and wondering if she’d ever be able to express that (or if she even did feel love for me), it was a big moment and one that is forever etched into my memory and onto my heart.