A Mother’s Dream

Vivian Rees never thought she’d be the mother of a child with special needs, let alone one with autism. But that was who she became when her young boy, Jesse, was born with it. Her little family’s collective world revolved around his needs, and her drive, her every waking moment, centered around helping him, on sparing him pain, on somehow finding a solution to fix it.

But there was no miracle cure. Go home and grieve, the psychologist said to her and Grant about their two-year-old. The official diagnosis slammed in their faces like a death sentence, she and Grant fought hard to navigate through life with slow steps forward and countless steps back. All she wanted was to make a connection. To bring them together. To forge a real bond.

And one summer day, on the shores of Pelican Lake in Minnesota, a curious gift appeared.

What would happen now?

A Mother’s Dream

Vivian Rees never thought she’d be the mother of a child with special needs, let alone one with autism. But that was who she became when her young boy, Jesse, was born with it. Her little family’s collective world revolved around his needs, and her drive, her every waking moment, centered around helping him, on sparing him pain, on somehow finding a solution to fix it.

But there was no miracle cure. Go home and grieve, the psychologist said to her and Grant about their two-year-old. The official diagnosis slammed in their faces like a death sentence, she and Grant fought hard to navigate through life with slow steps forward and countless steps back. All she wanted was to make a connection. To bring them together. To forge a real bond.

And one summer day, on the shores of Pelican Lake in Minnesota, a curious gift appeared.

What would happen now?