We will be hosting a Thanksgiving lunch today for some of my husband’s students. Many of them haven’t had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional sense. To thank them for their hard work, we invited them over to our home.

That means last night we had to fight the crowds at the grocery store. My husband and I had to tag team to get everything on our list, with our monkey in tow.

The good news is that the monkey was happy. The bad news is that he wanted to wonder about. Even though we put him in the cart with his iPad, thinking he’d be entertained, he was not having it. He wanted to get out of the cart and roam. It seemed that he was on a mission to find something, but we weren’t sure what it was he was looking for. And since he couldn’t find whatever it is, well this made him fustrated.

My husband and I had to split our list. I’d pick up the onions while he went to get the garlic. I’d pick up the butter while he went to get milk. But with all the people in the store it took much longer for us to get through our list.

In the meantime, the monkey was trying to escape, constantly.

And my husband?

He was patient. He kept trying to help the monkey. He kept asking him, “What are you looking for buddy? Just tell me. Is it juice? Cereal? What is it buddy?”

And throughout the craziness and the chaos all around, I could feel the love that he has for our monkey, trying to understand his needs. His calmness was heartfelt.

One of the times I went looking for some spices, I run back to look for them. In the middle of the aisle, my husband is kneeling down, talking to the monkey, as calm as can be. It was simply serene. It seemed so out of place with all of the commotion around them. And yet here they were, in their own peaceful world.

As we are leaving, I asked my husband how he was doing. And he tells me, “It was a little tough. I was starting to get a bit fustrated.”

A little???? I think what we accomplished was very tough.

I get asked a lot how is it that I am able to handle raising a special needs child. And I know from my friends that don’t have to do this, it does seem as if it’s an impossible challenge. And I don’t want to sugar coat it and say that it’s easy, because that’s far from the truth.

But having my son has taught me to try to look at the beauty of life. Those glimpses that one can only see when you are really looking.

And yesterday, I saw a wonderful dad, showing love by being extra patient and kind to his son. It would have been so understandable for my husband to get fustrated with the situation. But that didn’t happen.

I saw beauty in between all the chaos.

And for this, I’m thankful.