sandals were a pair of Tevas with yellow, green, blue and pink straps. After offering him other sandals as options, he said no to all of them and pointed again to the colorful Tevas. After submitting to his choice and finding the right size, we paid for them and headed back to the car. The clouds were starting to part so we began our trek back to the beach house.

That night, Broden grew upset and said, "Go home." Mark assured him that we had two more days at the beach and then we would drive home, "We will spend the day at the beach, eat steak for dinner, sleep, then wake up and pack the car to drive home."

Broden surprised us again that morning. He woke up the next morning, remembering the schedule Mark had told him, "Go to beach?" We assured him he was correct and, after breakfast, we got him ready for the beach. That evening walking off the beach, he turned to Mark and said, "Eat steak." Again, Mark nodded and told him he was correct. Mark and I were shocked. He was verbalizing the schedule back to us and had remembered what Mark had told him the night before. Again, this was new.

The next morning, as I started packing, I did something different than I normally do. Instead of mostly packing his stuff up myself, I gave Broden tasks so he could actively participate in packing up his room: "Take your sheets off your bed.

Stuff your woobies in your bag. Pull your pillowcase off your pillow." I gave him one task at a time. Once he was packed and had his breakfast, he patiently sat in a chair on the front porch as everyone packed the car to head home. This was the first time Broden had been active in the process and waited patiently for the car to be packed.

"Broden is an active participant in our family, teaching us that he is still growing as a person."

Years ago, I was told that most of Broden's progress would be seen in his younger years and that as he got older, his progression would

lessen. They would discuss children's brain development and how, after a while, Broden may not make the strides that we may have experienced when he was younger. What scares me is that I listened to them. I don't believe them anymore.

Progress is progress in my mind, and Broden continues to surprise us with what he knows and now, what he remembers. He is an active participant in our family and we look forward to new days of him continuing to show us what he can do, and teaching us that he is still growing as a person. •

PUZZLES & CAMO

Shelly Huhtanen is an Army wife stationed at Fort Benning, GA who has a child with autism. She enjoys sharing her experiences of day-to-day life caring for her son with autism while serving as an Army spouse. She authored "Giving a Voice to the Silent Many" that encompasses many stories of raising a child with autism in the military. Shelly is passionate about autism advocacy for our military and works to bring awareness to our local legislators and command about providing better support for our military autism community, such as better health care and education.