March 17, 2026

My mother was born on St Patrick’s Day, and since it was her birthday, she would make sure I wore green for school. She enjoyed seeing everyone wearing green on this day, as I grew older, I sensed that it had nothing to with St. Patrick (we were far from Irish) and everything to do with her birthday. I surmised that everybody wore green on St. Patricks’ Day to honor my mother’s birthday to celebrate her birthday, which made sense since green was her favorite color.

On September 5, 2008, my mother lost her 9-year bout with breast cancer, she was 71. A few years after her passing, my sister told me that when our mom learned that her cancer had returned the first thing said was that she wasn’t going to be able to see Dante get on the school bus for his first day of school, hearing this disclosure simultaneously warmed and broke my heart. Dante was 20 months old when his grandmother passed away, and her only grandchild.

Since her passing I have made sure to wear green every March 17th, and that Angelina and Dante wear something green as well. This morning, I called Lindens as I was driving to work and asked if they could make sure Dante wore something green today. My request may have seemed superfluous to the staff, there job isn't easy and I know they already have enough to do, but Dante wearing green today meant a lot to me for obvious reasons.

I wish I didn’t have to call them, I wish I could wake Dante myself every morning and I could lay Dante’s clothes out like I used to. But that isn’t the world Dante and I live in. I recently learned that today was a new day of observance called, Profound Autism Day.

Profound Autism Day is aimed at recognizing and supporting people with profound autism, a term describing individuals on the autism spectrum who require lifetime, 24/7 care due to significant communication, behavioral and sensory challenges. These individuals often face additional difficulties such as intellectual disabilities, minimal or no language, self-injurious behaviors, seizure disorders, and lower adaptive functioning.