WE-176: This weekend we celebrate Gisslen.

My brother has his birthday every October, and for his birthday we usually stay at home while we celebrate with a cake that my mom makes especially for him, since he can't eat foods that contain gluten. However, for this birthday we decided to reinvent ourselves and go out to eat something he loves: roast chicken.

More than once, my mom and I have wondered what Gisslen's life would be like without ASD, if his tastes would be different than they are now, or if instead of spending his birthday with us he would go out with his friends, and so we have thought of many scenarios, but I firmly believe that one thing he would love regardless of his condition, is going out to eat to celebrate a special date, and I can't blame him... who wouldn't?

We spent part of the afternoon looking for the perfect place to eat chicken, when what abounded where we walked were pizzas, ice cream and hamburgers, which all sounded good but he could hardly eat. The funny part is that, in theory, I should be resting because one of my ankles is swollen after my impromptu day of hiking earlier in the week; in practice, I was casually walking the streets as if nothing had happened to me (but I paid for that nonchalance later in the day, with the pain in my ankle at night).

Anyway, it was all worth it, because my mom and an aunt who accompanied us were very happy to have found a place that we all liked. My mom for the chicken, and my aunt for the air conditioning. My brother is not a fan of having his picture taken, but we asked him nicely for a souvenir and in his very spontaneous way, he posed for the pictures without any problems. He ate animatedly while we talked about what we will do next before the weekend is over.

Sometimes I look at my brother for a while and think how crazy it is that he is already 22 years old when we used to pass him looking for him at his school, and he was shorter than me in height. Still, to me he will always be as happy, quiet and funny a boy as he is now, even if he is taller than me and has a mustache. I'm patiently waiting for his next birthday, although something tells me we'll be going out for chicken again very soon.