Celebrating Life in Recovery

Prison in My Own Home

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Cheri Peters (Host), Lisa Eliuk

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Series Code: CLR

Program Code: CLR000129B


00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues
00:03 related to addictive behaviour.
00:05 Parents are cautioned that some material
00:06 may be too candid for younger children.
00:13 Welcome back.
00:15 You know, we are talking about
00:16 when everything in your life is going along pretty normally
00:21 and when I say normal, normal,
00:23 I haven't seen a lot of people that are normal.
00:25 I haven't, I heard a lot of those stories.
00:27 Even your story, Lisa,
00:29 when you talk about what happened at 19 and,
00:31 and, you know that changed everything,
00:33 your family dynamics and partying
00:35 and going crazy for a while
00:37 and then kind of settling and getting married,
00:40 getting a degree.
00:41 And so now you got your degree,
00:43 you got your education thing.
00:46 Your husband's going back to school too.
00:49 I mean all of that, everything is going well.
00:50 Faith is, I'm sure beautiful and fun,
00:54 and but in your life things started to turn
00:58 and take us there,
01:00 everything is going in one direction
01:02 and then all of a sudden there is a shift.
01:06 After we had finished our degrees,
01:09 actually I wasn't quite finished my degree
01:11 when I got my first job.
01:13 So I had about four classes to finish up
01:18 but I could get a letter of standing at the time
01:20 and I did that and I went to Regina,
01:23 Saskatchewan and taught
01:24 for my first year of teaching...
01:26 Mm-hmm, what grade?
01:28 It was a K to 6 at the time.
01:34 Okay, awesome.
01:35 And I was the principal, I taught multi grade,
01:40 I helped with the secretarial, everything.
01:43 So that was my first year of teaching.
01:46 And so, and I had Faith,
01:47 she was around between two and three at the time,
01:51 and my husband had finished up his education.
01:56 And we moved out,
01:58 we went to help the school in particular
02:03 because they didn't have a teacher
02:04 and it was getting pretty close to school starting.
02:07 And they weren't sure what they were going to do,
02:09 and so I took that call
02:12 and so I did it that, that year.
02:14 But during the year
02:16 my husband couldn't get employment there
02:18 and so...
02:20 They just didn't have enough funds
02:22 to hire another teacher.
02:23 No, and they didn't have students
02:25 and they were rebuilding the school
02:28 and so we started out actually with nine students.
02:32 And then by Christmas time we went up to 13,
02:35 and then for the next school year,
02:38 they actually had 23 students.
02:40 So that was fabulous for us with that school.
02:45 But in the mean time,
02:46 my husband during that school year
02:48 couldn't get the job in Regina
02:51 and so he ended up
02:52 actually going to Peace River, Alberta.
02:54 So then I was in charge of that school,
02:57 and I had my daughter
02:58 and he was at the Peace River,
03:00 Alberta and that was approximately 13 hours away.
03:04 Wow.
03:05 So right now, that's the strain on a family.
03:07 So you guys are having to deal with that kind of thing.
03:10 You are working and raising your daughter
03:12 and trying to do all that kind of stuff.
03:14 He is trying to survive and,
03:17 provide some income for everyone.
03:19 That's right.
03:20 So, I know that you, you were pregnant again.
03:23 You got pregnant again.
03:24 Was it during this time?
03:26 No, this was later on. Okay.
03:29 We were both living in Alberta,
03:32 and I was pregnant again around
03:36 five and half years later,
03:38 and my husband was working on the reserve at the time
03:43 in Hobbema in Alberta,
03:45 and so he was working there.
03:47 He had grade five, six classroom
03:49 and it was kind of...
03:52 So with First Nation.
03:53 Yes, with First Nation kids
03:55 and he actually did very well.
03:59 He had the lowest stand kids in the school and,
04:03 but it was really hard.
04:06 It was a day to day thing for him.
04:08 And I was actually scared he might in the end quit
04:11 and so it was like praying everyday,
04:15 "Lord pleases help Mark to be able
04:17 to go to school and to work today."
04:18 Yeah.
04:20 And then what I've got to say for people
04:21 that don't know about working in some school districts
04:24 as you have kids with learning disabilities,
04:27 fetal alcohol syndrome.
04:28 They have got chaos at home.
04:30 There's a lot of junk going on in their life.
04:33 And so as a teacher when you come in
04:35 and you've given out assignments
04:36 the night before,
04:38 you may not have anybody that's done their assignment.
04:41 So it's a different kind of teaching.
04:42 And so with Mark, he's got to,
04:44 he's got to put everything that he learned almost away
04:49 and figure out how to teach each one of these kids.
04:51 That's right
04:53 and what motivates them,
04:56 what appeals to them,
04:57 how to help them in a way, that they need to be helped.
05:01 And it wasn't just academic.
05:04 It was also being a role model
05:07 for them as well, so...
05:10 Lot of them didn't have father,
05:11 they had a father that may be in and out of jail
05:13 or in and out of alcoholism.
05:15 So that was a...
05:17 that was a really tough period for him,
05:19 and at the end of the year...
05:23 Well, during that time period,
05:25 we had our first son Andrew.
05:28 And so, we were really happy about that
05:33 because our daughter,
05:35 we've had her for six years
05:36 and we're really happy but we were,
05:40 you know, looking forward to having another child,
05:42 so there would be siblings,
05:44 so, and also during that time,
05:47 my husband got a call
05:48 to go to Williams Lake, British Columbia.
05:51 And so he decided to take that call.
05:55 So we moved there
05:57 and he taught in the high school
06:01 and that first year,
06:02 I actually started teaching in the resorts room,
06:06 so I worked with students
06:08 from grade 1 all the way to grade 12
06:11 in different subject areas.
06:13 So it was really,
06:15 it sounds like it was kind of what you guys wanted to do,
06:18 so it felt good.
06:19 It felt good... Yeah.
06:20 You know, we're both working in a great place.
06:25 We both believed in a Christian education
06:29 and we were nice little family unit
06:33 and we were really excited.
06:37 Sounds good, so what happened?
06:40 Well, during those...
06:43 In Williams Lake, we stayed three years
06:45 and for the first year I worked in the resorts room,
06:48 and then after that they had to cut a position
06:52 and that was the position that was cut.
06:54 And so then I didn't have a position
06:57 and I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do,
07:00 my husband was still working at the school,
07:02 so that was okay.
07:03 But the...
07:05 'cause we had to pay for our own schooling
07:09 and payday loans,
07:11 we both needed to be working,
07:13 so I wasn't sure
07:14 what I was going to do to be quite honest
07:16 and last minute,
07:20 I got a call to Hazelton SDA School
07:25 in British Columbia.
07:26 I love Hazelton.
07:27 You know, it's a really poor town
07:29 but it is beautiful 'cause I mean,
07:31 I think their industry dropped off at one point.
07:33 Yes.
07:35 So they have lost some of the major businesses there.
07:37 Yes. Yeah
07:39 So I ended up going there actually
07:43 and to help with that school
07:45 and so I started about three days
07:47 before school actually started.
07:50 So I went to Hazelton
07:52 and stayed with our school boy chair at the time.
07:57 And my husband was at home and he had the two children.
08:01 Okay.
08:02 So it was another time where it was very hard.
08:07 I didn't like being away from them.
08:08 Right.
08:10 And I know that there was a time
08:12 where you started to notice some things
08:14 that were very different with your kids.
08:16 Yes.
08:18 And talk about that
08:19 so with not so much Faith but your son.
08:21 Right.
08:23 With Andrew during that time...
08:26 Well, I was away that year, I didn't see him as often
08:28 because I would drive back and forth
08:30 as many weekends as I could.
08:32 It was an eight hour drive
08:33 and but when I came back the next year,
08:36 I stayed at Williams Lake,
08:38 and I chose to be there with my husband
08:40 and stay with him and I did started noticing
08:45 when I took Andrew out of church,
08:49 just dealing with him in general,
08:52 he wasn't talking and...
08:54 How old was he?
08:55 He was around three.
08:57 Okay.
08:58 And if it was, it was sounds,
09:00 it was very limited,
09:03 very hyper into a lot of things,
09:08 and I knew something was going on
09:09 but I wasn't sure what.
09:13 It was kind of interesting
09:15 when I first went to Williams Lake,
09:18 and I had gone into the school.
09:21 There was a little boy
09:23 who lived right behind the school
09:25 and he had gotten out of his housing yard
09:29 and he had walked down to the school,
09:32 he had come into the school
09:34 and his parents didn't know he was gone
09:37 and we happen to be circulating,
09:40 and I saw this little boy in the kindergarten room.
09:43 And I said oh, I said, you know,
09:45 I went to one of the staff,
09:46 I said, there is little boy here in the school,
09:48 is he your son?
09:49 And they said no.
09:50 They said, "This is the neighbor's son."
09:54 And they said, "He goes to school here,
09:59 he's just starting school."
10:00 But they said "he has autism."
10:02 So they said, he,
10:04 you know sometimes will leave his house
10:08 and come down here and that's what he did.
10:10 Mm-hm
10:12 And that was my first touch of autism.
10:17 The first time that you saw another kid and said, okay,
10:20 I get that and you can kind of see it in him.
10:23 I'm not able to really look at you
10:25 or communicate in the same way.
10:28 And...
10:30 But what you found out that,
10:32 that autism is gonna head it closer than you think.
10:36 That's right.
10:37 I didn't know at the time...
10:38 Yeah.
10:40 But I feel in my heart it was almost...
10:44 God letting me know ahead of time.
10:46 Okay.
10:47 You got the education, you're in early education.
10:51 You are working with kids.
10:53 Now you're seeing these disabilities
10:54 and you're thinking,
10:56 at home you had a son who is not talking yet.
10:59 Yes, and so what happened was as my husband
11:03 and I ended up taking him to the doctors
11:05 and we said,
11:06 "We are not sure what's going on
11:07 but we know there's something going on."
11:09 And as soon as she saw
11:12 and started watching and observing
11:13 and she says "So I'm putting in a referral right away."
11:16 And so,
11:19 another person who really helped us
11:22 deal with that was
11:24 the principal's wife at the time.
11:26 She was actually working with that little boy that I had met.
11:30 And she had thought that maybe my son was on the spectrum.
11:34 But she didn't want to hurt me or hurt my feelings
11:37 that she didn't know how to go about it.
11:39 She didn't know how to say to you.
11:41 Have you paid attention to this?
11:42 That's right.
11:44 'Cause we don't know how to say that,
11:46 is it we love each other
11:48 and these are some serious things
11:50 and you don't want to say it to someone,
11:52 you know heads off, I would get this checked.
11:54 That's right.
11:56 And so people are usually quiet.
11:57 Mm-hmm.
11:59 In this instant, I'm really happy she did.
12:03 Mm-hmm.
12:05 'Cause our meeting went on for
12:06 even the longer period of time
12:09 because in my husband side of the family,
12:11 they didn't talk until later on.
12:13 And so, it wasn't so much I thought, well,
12:16 oh, well maybe he has a speech delay
12:19 or may be he has ADHD.
12:22 I never actually thought of autism at the time.
12:25 Mm-hmm.
12:26 And so with her help,
12:29 I found out actually the very day I found out...
12:34 What did she actually say to you at first
12:36 or how did she broach the subject?
12:41 Well, she came up to me and she was talking to me
12:44 and we had a good rapport.
12:46 So, and she knew that I was wondering about Andrew
12:52 and she started talking to me and she said, you know,
12:58 this is what I've seen
12:59 and this is what I've worked within.
13:01 You know, have you maybe approach to doctor,
13:03 a pediatrician,
13:05 and she's trying to be
13:06 as nice as possible about going about it.
13:09 So and, I was pretty open
13:16 and I was friendly about it and stuff like that
13:20 and I thought, well, you know,
13:21 I'll go and I'll do it and just to see, you know,
13:24 what is going on and stuff like that.
13:26 So I took it okay.
13:27 And in the mean time my husband had...
13:34 We had worked for three years and he...
13:38 There again positions were changing
13:40 and so I had an opportunity to go to Hazelton.
13:43 And so, the day that we're already packed up
13:48 and ready to move
13:50 and pull out with the moving truck
13:52 was the actual day that I got the results back
13:55 and they told me and I relayed it to Mark
13:58 because I was going to talk with him.
14:00 They told you what?
14:01 They said, "Well, you know,
14:02 your son has autism, don't you?"
14:05 And I was like,
14:07 "No, not at all."
14:09 I really,
14:11 I really didn't have any idea and it was a shock.
14:16 Even when somebody saying it that, I don't,
14:18 I don't care how obvious something looks.
14:21 When you love somebody, you don't want to see it.
14:24 That's right.
14:25 And so what you were saying is, "No, I don't know that,
14:28 this cannot be happening."
14:30 What do you mean by that?
14:33 You know, and I could imagine...
14:36 Well, how did you feel, I mean, I can't imagine.
14:39 I mean, I really can't imagine,
14:41 how did you feel that moment
14:42 when you had to take that news?
14:45 I was crushed.
14:47 I felt like all my hopes and dreams
14:49 kind of were gone.
14:52 I wasn't sure exactly at that point
14:56 what it all meant.
14:59 And I knew life would be different
15:02 but I wasn't sure how?
15:04 Mm-hmm.
15:05 And then I was like, what are we going to do?
15:08 We are moving from a bigger center
15:11 now to a little place
15:13 and there really isn't any services around us.
15:16 The closest services are like
15:17 45 minutes to an hour and half away.
15:20 What are we going to do with our son?
15:24 So you're talking about
15:25 education is going to be very different.
15:27 Mm-hmm.
15:28 That kind of support that
15:29 you're having is gonna be very different.
15:31 That's right
15:32 You have to get someone to teach you
15:33 how to teach or interact with this child.
15:36 That's right.
15:37 And, and, but,
15:39 I think that's brilliant that you said
15:41 that the resources are not gonna be there
15:42 in this little town.
15:44 So what do we do?
15:45 What did you do?
15:47 Well, we got to the town
15:50 and we started getting set up with services.
15:53 I was fortunate enough
15:55 because I had been there before.
15:57 I had friends in the community
15:59 and my friends started setting me up,
16:02 okay, well, you can get services here,
16:04 you know this is the good person
16:06 and so forth.
16:07 And so I had a good
16:11 another people that I could go to,
16:14 to talk to.
16:15 Would you say to somebody
16:16 that's feeling with something like this is make sure
16:18 you get that in another people.
16:19 Definitely. Yeah.
16:21 You...
16:23 Don't do this by yourself.
16:24 No because it's very easy to do it alone
16:29 and make a lot of mistakes.
16:32 Mm-hmm.
16:33 Did you research stuff?
16:34 I mean, to me I'm a researcher,
16:36 I think I get some control if I can say, okay,
16:39 what is it,
16:40 and what do I need to know about it
16:41 and what are the stats, did you do any of that thing?
16:44 And what did you learn, if you did that?
16:46 I did lot of research at the time
16:48 'cause I wanted to do
16:49 whatever I could to help my son.
16:51 Yeah.
16:53 And so I researched,
16:56 there is...
16:58 There is all kinds of different ways
17:00 to help your child with autism,
17:02 so there is all kinds of different therapies,
17:05 there is biomedical treatments,
17:08 and there is having a Dan doctor
17:09 to treat autism now.
17:12 There is a...
17:14 You have to start looking into behavior plans,
17:18 behavior consultants, behavior interventionist,
17:20 speech specialist, OTs...
17:23 Everything changed for you.
17:25 Everything, everything literally.
17:28 Even, even, you know,
17:31 we talks a long time ago.
17:33 But it's like that from that point
17:34 I started to really look at.
17:36 If that happened to me what will I learn,
17:38 and I was surprised like 1 in 68 children
17:41 on the spectrum...
17:43 That's right.
17:44 Of autism at some level.
17:45 I mean, and so
17:47 you were learning that kind of thing, is it,
17:48 this is not a problem that's kind of out there,
17:50 this is huge issue, and what would I do now?
17:55 Can you show me your son
17:56 'cause I know you brought some pictures?
17:58 This is Andrew.
18:00 So he is the one that was our first son with autism.
18:06 And to me I'm looking at him and he is just,
18:10 you know as a baby,
18:11 and as you held him, as you nursed him,
18:14 all that stuff is that a beautiful kid.
18:18 Thank you
18:19 Right, so you are learning all this.
18:21 When were you pregnant,
18:23 'cause you were pregnant again?
18:25 Yes, but it wasn't until 6 years later.
18:29 So in the mean time we lived in British Columbia,
18:34 we taught there
18:35 and then we decided to move to New Brunswick,
18:41 so I was going back to my roots.
18:44 And my father had moved into special care room.
18:48 So we had actually moved into the house
18:50 where I had grown up in.
18:52 And so, when we had moved to New Brunswick
18:55 about two or three weeks later I found out that
18:57 I was pregnant with my third child.
19:00 In all this craziness going on.
19:02 Yes.
19:05 How were you surviving then?
19:07 Were you okay?
19:08 I was surviving
19:13 but I found out while I was in New Brunswick,
19:17 I thought it was going to be different than
19:19 what I had imagined.
19:21 I thought it was gonna be so wonderful,
19:23 I was getting to go back home,
19:25 I was getting to go back to my roots,
19:26 my family was around.
19:28 Before we had moved there,
19:31 I had called different schools and professionals
19:34 to ask them about their systems, you know,
19:37 and would my son will be able to get therapies
19:39 and will we able to get jobs as teachers,
19:42 'cause there are two school districts
19:43 where we were moving, so I thought this is great.
19:45 You know, we both have employment,
19:47 there will be services for our son,
19:50 this is gonna be wonderful and...
19:52 But you don't worry, I just got to say that,
19:54 you know,
19:56 so in your public eye
19:58 you are still doing all the normal things.
20:00 You're still doing everything that,
20:02 I'm getting a job,
20:03 I'm going in and I'm socializing
20:06 and people are networking and all that kind of stuff.
20:08 When that door shut in, you are at home,
20:11 what was that like for you and Mark, and the kids?
20:18 It was almost like another side.
20:19 Yeah.
20:20 I bet.
20:22 Nobody really knew.
20:26 It seems like people don't really understand
20:30 what it's like to live with a child
20:35 with special needs on the spectrum
20:37 unless they have one themselves.
20:43 Behind closed doors it was really tough.
20:48 We had a child who,
20:52 he wasn't potty trained till he was 9 years old.
20:54 Mm-hmm.
20:55 And I was scared that
20:57 I wasn't going to be able to potty train this child.
21:02 His speech was very much sporadic
21:04 and he was considered non-verbal.
21:07 He had sensory issues and he continuous to,
21:10 where loud noises,
21:14 touch, taste, smell everything is heightened.
21:19 Also when he wasn't...
21:22 when he wasn't dealing with those things,
21:24 I mean, you have safety issues.
21:26 There is one day
21:28 and I was pregnant with my third son
21:30 where we were just coming outside
21:33 and he had gotten away from me
21:36 and I called him "Andrew stop."
21:39 And I really believe his guardian angel was there
21:42 'cause he kept running
21:43 and there was a car that came out down the road fast
21:48 and literally it was around a couple of inches
21:51 and that car would hit him.
21:53 So there was different things that happened
21:57 that nobody really knows about,
21:58 nobody really understands that,
22:00 when you have to deal with all those issues,
22:03 when you have to deal with a child who...
22:09 you know, can't toilet themselves
22:12 and you have to clean their messes
22:15 day after day after day,
22:17 and it's not just in their diapers,
22:20 it's smearing, it's walls,
22:22 it's carpets, it's items,
22:23 it's everything.
22:25 Nobody really knows
22:27 what those people have to go through.
22:30 You know I'm glad that you, that you could be that honest.
22:33 Because that's what I'm saying is that all the other stuff,
22:36 all the stats, all they tell,
22:38 everything they tell you to do.
22:39 But when you shut that door
22:41 and you say no one prepared me for this,
22:44 and this is a child that I love.
22:47 Yes.
22:48 Beyond what you could imagine,
22:50 I love but I can't say to him
22:52 "Go clean up your room or stop, you need to behave."
22:54 That's right.
22:56 'Cause he doesn't hear me.
22:58 How's Faith and Mark during that time?
23:02 During that time,
23:06 Faith as a child and she kind of use it as,
23:11 you know, my brother,
23:13 he gets everything kind of idea,
23:15 like he gets extra attention, he gets extra support,
23:18 all these things.
23:20 Nobody sees me.
23:21 Nobody see me.
23:23 She was such a wonderful support
23:27 with Mark and I,
23:28 she would do what she could at the same time
23:31 to help us out with her brother.
23:35 Mark at the time, it's rough,
23:38 it's your son,
23:40 he is the...
23:41 your son is supposed to carry on your name.
23:43 You have hopes and dreams for your son,
23:45 it's not materializing
23:47 and you have all these different things
23:49 that are happening
23:50 and going on in your house behind closed doors,
23:52 and it's really hard to deal with
23:54 and I think it's sometimes
23:57 very difficult for men in a different way.
24:00 In what way,
24:02 'cause you watched him, and, you know,
24:04 you love him
24:06 Yes.
24:07 You see him have hope or give up.
24:09 That's right.
24:11 With Mark I think it,
24:13 it hurts at a very deep level
24:17 and it's hard to talk about, it's hard to explain.
24:22 Seeing your son like that,
24:24 sometimes it can even be embarrassing,
24:27 and it's not that
24:28 you don't love your son, you do.
24:32 It's just that, it's really hard to deal with
24:37 and then at the same time,
24:39 you have to go on with your day to day life
24:42 like as if nothing ever happened.
24:44 You know, and I can't...
24:48 I want to say that there is a hope
24:51 that I have from the very first part of my recovery,
24:55 then the very first part of finding God
24:57 is my hope is the day after resurrection.
25:00 When we woke up
25:01 and we don't have these diseases,
25:03 we don't have this spectrum,
25:05 we don't have hearts that don't work
25:07 and all that kind of stuff.
25:08 We really wake up on the other side of all these,
25:11 but until we get to the other side,
25:13 what keeps you alive,
25:14 what keeps you guys functioning,
25:16 what gives you hope
25:17 and what are you doing right now
25:19 'cause I know that, you know,
25:21 we don't have a lot of time,
25:22 but what are you doing right now
25:23 as for to help,
25:28 to help your son,
25:29 to help Andrew?
25:31 With Andrew I got it...
25:36 I networked,
25:38 I researched and met as many people as I could,
25:42 read books,
25:45 tried to get as many services
25:48 as possible for him to help him
25:52 to be the best person that he could be
25:55 'cause a lot of us have a real worry.
25:58 We have a worry that, you know,
26:01 will my child be able to when they are 18, 19 years old.
26:06 Will they be able to,
26:09 if you are fortunate enough to be able
26:11 to go to college or university,
26:13 and if you are not fortunate enough,
26:15 you are worrying about
26:17 will my son end up in a group home
26:19 or in an institution,
26:20 who will take care of them after I'm gone?
26:23 Will there be anybody to care of them after I'm gone.
26:26 These are some huge fears.
26:31 That is hard to deal with and I found for myself that...
26:37 I never blamed God.
26:39 Why?
26:40 'Cause I didn't think it was him.
26:41 Okay.
26:43 I believed it's sin
26:45 and everything that comes with it.
26:48 You know, and I have that same belief, Lisa,
26:50 so I'm glad you said that is that sometimes
26:52 we want to blame God like why did you let this happen?
26:54 Why did things like this happen to kids?
26:57 And we do live in a world that is damaged,
26:59 and we are hurting ourselves and the world.
27:03 I mean, even the water is polluted
27:04 in a lot of places.
27:06 You know, I'm looking at what happened
27:09 just recently in the news where,
27:11 you know, there is lead in the water
27:12 and that's causing disabilities to these kids
27:15 that are off the chart,
27:17 so I really believe that God is that,
27:19 and supporting here.
27:20 But I still, I look at you
27:22 and I'm thinking that when I talked to you,
27:24 every time I've talked to you, I see a woman of hope,
27:28 I see you're driven,
27:30 you're looking for the next thing
27:31 and the next thing.
27:33 How do you do that day in and day out?
27:38 Prayer,
27:40 at first every day
27:43 I'm always talking to God in my mind,
27:45 you know, "Lord, please give me wisdom,
27:49 please give me strength,
27:52 help me to deal with
27:54 whatever I need to deal with today.
27:57 Help me to be the best person that I can be.
28:00 Help me to reach out to whoever I need to reach out to.
28:04 Help me to help my family and so forth."
28:08 I know from everything
28:11 that I've gone through in my life that,
28:14 I can't deny God
28:15 'cause I know he is there
28:17 'cause when I couldn't do it, he carried me.
28:20 So I can't deny, he is there.
28:22 So in the midst of this situation
28:25 where you're saying not a...
28:27 hardly anybody has the answers for me.
28:30 Nobody can tell me, you know,
28:31 just you've given this,
28:32 just have them do this,
28:34 just feed him well, he is gonna be well,
28:36 nobody is saying any of that stuff.
28:38 You say God has faithful.
28:40 God as faithful.
28:43 Right now, how old is he now?
28:44 Andrew is 13.
28:46 Thirteen? And you had another son?
28:47 I had another son William.
28:49 And William, is he dealing with autism?
28:51 Yes, he is.
28:53 So you have two sons That's right
28:55 Both dealing with autism That's right.
28:57 So when you shut the door now, you're saying it,
29:01 you take that and it's not twice as intense.
29:06 'cause some people say
29:07 that's probably twice as intense.
29:09 No at times it's probably off the chart.
29:13 Yes.
29:16 Well with, with the boys
29:19 and their autism they are very different.
29:23 William is able to talk and William...
29:30 Let me show, let me see William
29:32 'cause William is, is...
29:37 so cute. Thank you.
29:42 So this is William,
29:43 and he is very different than Andrew.
29:47 He loves to learn, his fun is learning.
29:52 It's like A, B, C's, numbers,
29:54 shapes, colors, safari animals,
29:56 planets, you name it,
29:58 he loves to learn it.
30:00 But he also has attention seeking behaviors.
30:03 So he might
30:07 for instance go into your bathroom
30:09 and take your shampoo and conditioner
30:11 and completely cover the floor and the tub.
30:18 That's just one example. Yeah.
30:20 I mean, you know,
30:21 he could take pair of scissors and poke holes in the walls.
30:26 He is a picker.
30:28 So, and what I mean by...
30:29 Where he picks himself?
30:31 Well, he will, say for instance,
30:33 if he had chapped lips,
30:35 he would pick, and pick, and pick
30:36 until they are rock or if he saw like,
30:40 say for instance if he poked a hole in the wall
30:41 and then there was a hole and shaving.
30:44 So he keeps picking,
30:46 and picking up the hole in the wall.
30:47 So he does all kinds of different things.
30:51 Safety, he doesn't realize
30:53 when he run out in the street you can get hit and killed.
30:56 So, and he did leave our house one day.
31:01 He left our house
31:03 and I really believe God was with him.
31:08 He left our house
31:10 and my husband and I went out looking for him
31:13 in our neighborhood right around
31:15 and we went to the neighbors and,
31:16 you know, we explained to them, our son has autism.
31:19 This is what he looks like.
31:21 Have you seen him and so forth?
31:23 And my husband was like,
31:25 I'm gonna get into the truck
31:27 and I'm gonna start driving around
31:28 the neighborhood to see where he is.
31:30 So he started to get out of his truck
31:31 while I was going to the neighbors
31:33 and all of a sudden
31:34 as I was coming out of neighbor's house.
31:36 I had seen a police car come by our street,
31:38 and so I thought,
31:40 I'm gonna run up to the police car
31:41 and tell them because my next step was,
31:43 I was gonna call 911 and tell them the situation.
31:46 So I went out to the policemen,
31:49 and I told them the situation
31:50 and he says, oh, he says,
31:52 "I think I know where your son is" so...
31:56 Don't you loved that smile,
31:58 you think, no what is he going?
32:01 So he says,
32:02 "Hop in and I'll take you to where I think he is."
32:04 Yes.
32:06 So I got in the car with the policeman
32:07 and he had taken me up at least 4 or 5 streets
32:11 and over and what my son had done was is,
32:16 he had gone all the way across the streets,
32:18 went into another street
32:20 and there just happened to be a family
32:22 who had just moved into the neighborhood
32:25 and they were having a house warming party.
32:27 And so there was people there
32:32 and the door happened to be open
32:35 and so he went in the house,
32:37 so we went up the stairs
32:38 and right down to the end of the hallway
32:40 and grandma was laying in bed,
32:42 and all of a sudden,
32:43 she's seen this little boy come in and it's like,
32:46 who are you type of idea.
32:48 And of course with William,
32:50 he can talk but he is not going to tell you well,
32:54 my name is William Eliuk
32:55 and I live such and such, right.
32:57 So he is not talking,
32:59 he is not saying anything to anybody and,
33:02 but he did bring his iPad with him.
33:04 So they are looking to see if there is any identification
33:07 and there wasn't,
33:08 so they are trying to figure out
33:09 "Who is this little boy and where did he come from?"
33:11 right?
33:13 And they knew there is something little different
33:14 so one of the ladies who happened to be there,
33:17 she said, "I have a friend with the child
33:19 who is autism
33:20 and I have a feeling this is the child with autism."
33:23 And so they had made the connection
33:26 and had called the police station
33:28 and so that's what made the cruiser come out
33:30 and when I saw the cruiser,
33:32 I had just happened to see the cruiser,
33:34 and you know, ran up to them waving my hand,
33:37 and so it all worked together.
33:39 So that's why I say,
33:40 I really believe God was working with us
33:44 so that he didn't get hurt and so I made the connection.
33:47 Right.
33:49 I'm gonna for once say, man, I can't even,
33:53 that your strength just is amazing to me,
33:55 it's inspiring to me, I can't,
33:57 because I don't know
33:58 what I feels like to be in your skin.
34:00 I don't know what it feels like when you shut those doors.
34:02 But I do know that you love these kids.
34:04 And so we're going to come back,
34:06 we have like 3 minutes and I,
34:08 you're doing a fund raiser,
34:10 I want to talk about when we come back.
34:11 I don't do this much on this program
34:13 but I'm gonna talk about that when we come back.
34:15 Will you join me? Yes.
34:16 We're gonna take a break.
34:18 Sometimes there is no bow, there is no way to tie this up,
34:21 there is no way to say and everything is all good.
34:25 The only thing I can say about
34:27 some of our circumstances is that we get up anyway.
34:30 We get up anyway, we learn what we have to do,
34:33 we get through the day, and we love our kids.
34:36 We'll be right back,
34:37 stay with us Celebrating Life In Recovery.


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Revised 2016-09-29