There are some amazing writers, and those writers do not always write on platforms like Odyssey, but instead, they write their own blogs, in hopes to create a larger audience. Since I myself have the privilege of writing for this company, I try to let others use my platform to write their own. That being said, this article is a blog post from the blogger "littlebirdlearnstofly," also known as Chelsey Anderson, and is an exceptional writer of their own work. I truly hope you enjoy this piece as much as I did.

It can express your character or your values depending on what you’re signing. It could be a petition for something you’re passionate about. It can be your expression of sympathy for someone’s loss. It can be the last stand or the last straw, and you find the dotted line.

I remember when I was in high school, receiving your Tattler, also meant receiving the messages, the memories, the words that others documented your stature. How many people signed my pages, what they said, how long they took to tell me how great I was, or the number of signatures meaning how cool I was.

Last week, my Aspie, a person much cooler than I could ever be, brought me his Tattler with such excitement. He couldn’t wait to show me how many people had signed it, and what they wrote. I immediately turned to the back pages where I knew the signatures, the autographs, the blank pages that I knew would be filled, could be and would be found.

Those pages were blank. I thought to myself, surely they just have changed that since it had been 20 years since my Tattler had been filled. Sure enough, he showed me impatiently that I had indeed gotten it all wrong, and with a sigh, opened the front pages to reveal them.

As I savored his moment with him and smiled at the signatures and thoughts that others took the time to write him, I caught myself having to look away. He was so proud of them, the gestures, all thirteen of them. . . He was in a hurry that day, and I was busy with work, so he left his Tattler in my office.

Any mother, I’m sure, can’t also wait to see what others have said to the one you love the most. Mostly, there were only signatures or small “usual” comments with generic hopes that he has a great summer. On the other hand, though, there were more significant ones that stood out to me.

One girl, without invading either of their privacy, wrote: “Thanks for all the awkward chats” along with a heart. To you, my reader, might gasp and think that what she wrote was so rude. But to me, the mother of an Aspie, knew exactly that he IS awkward, along with his conversations. She thanked him for those moments, and the heart left, was her way of saying exactly just that.

Another one, wrote, “You’re so funny, and you know how to make someone have a brighter day”. Probably not something one dude would say to another otherwise, I hope he understood that concept as it made me feel pride. Why wouldn’t you want to know that about yourself, or about your son?

Some expressions of what my son meant to others I didn’t understand, not because they weren’t well written, but because I’m sure the dialog of high school freshman has changed over these years. “Have a summer full of (sweg),” which I can only pray is something good, but he wasn’t offended so, I wasn’t offended for him. If any of my readers do know what “sweg” means, go ahead and fill me in.

A nickname that he has ironically been given since the end of his middle school years was “Sloth”. Many who personally know me, understand how really ironic it is, especially since the guy I dated my whole high school years…had the exact same nickname. She had hoped that this sloth, would have an amazing summer.

Another, “You’re a lizard Harry” could probably be my favorite. Because even I know as someone older than the times, knows that this statement is marked with full greatness, since Harry, the leader of them all became the coolest weirdo in his time as well.

Lastly, the one who caused a lump hard to swallow, the one who wrote the most, as if she was really hoping he knew and understood what she was trying to say and thanked him for doing wrote… “You are so vivacious and funny. I really needed that some days and it perked me right up. Even the hardest days, the ones where I wanted to die, you helped me to have a happy life”.

No, his pages weren’t filled to the brim like mine. No, there weren’t signatures of people that he didn’t even know. No, not even the blank pages in the back used for “extra space” were even touched. But, I humbly learned that your life doesn’t have to consist of how many signatures you have in your Tattler, or how many “likes” you have on your photos or status on Facebook.

What matters, is that in your life, you make a difference in someone else’s life by making them laugh even if they think you’re awkward. That you take the time to care about others especially on their worst days. That you live more carefree, not because you know or understand differently, but because if we all had a little Aspie in our souls and hearts, the world just might be a better place.

None of those students will read my blog, and I sure hope he doesn’t either to not embarrass him, but I will forever add this lesson he taught me without knowing it. And I will continue to be the biggest fan of the awkward, funny, sloth – like one who knows more of the meaning of life than I ever could.