Today, I went with my mom into Pittsburgh to see my Dad.

It meant changing up my schedule, something I knew that I needed to do.

We sat in traffic as is common when you have to go through the tunnel.

Parking was near-full in the hospital parking garage. We scoured the garaage from top to bottom with a bunch of other cars when we got to the bottom we went back up again until we met two nice people who were leaving and got their space they vacated.

We got into the hospital and to my father’s room where he was sligtly disorented and unresponsive, not wanting to comply with medicating, eating and tests.

Eventually, he gave into having some juice and water. Then before lunch, we learned that he would be going to the step-down unit, a sign of better things.

We stayed through lunch, with mom helping him eat and hydrate before the big move upstairs to the stepdown.

Once he got there and got acquainted with his new nurse, we left so he could get settled and some rest before the treatment teams visited him.

Getting to and out of the parking garage and back on the highway, then through the tunnel is one of the hardest things, but nothing beat getting to see my father transform from being non-chalant and in a depressed mood to being willing to comply to do what he needs to do to be well and back on the main road to recovery.

It definitely made missing day services today well worth it and all the time sitting in the car in traffic, circling the parking garage.

Sometimes, you do whatever it takes for family.

Today was no exception.

They say autistic people don’t have any empathy. We do. We just show it differently.

Today was one of those days!