If you know Reza in person or have followed my blog at all, you’ll know he loves to climb and can scale just about anything.  He enjoys climbing in our garage and we usually let him roam in there with the interconnecting door open so we can check on him every few minutes.

Yesterday while he was playing in there we suddenly heard panicked cries.  My husband ran in to see what was wrong, but, at first, couldn’t see Reza anywhere.  He followed the sound of the cries to the window, where Reza was hanging by his fingertips from the lower ledge on the outside of the garage!  Apparently the window had been open, and he pushed the screen out and tried to climb down but got scared and stuck.  When we got close enough to help, we realized Reza was crying “I love you, I love you, I love you!”

We reflected afterwards that Reza probably associates those words with being hugged, being held, and feeling safe.  We say it to him over and over in that context of physically enveloping him in our arms and our safety and security.  So when he was hanging there, terrified and needing to be hugged, held, and safe, he cried out “I love you!” as his plea.

I cried a little.  I wonder if he’s internalized the meaning of “I love you” both in that especially literal Autistic way, but also in its abstract sense.

Love this little guy so much.