Hi there.

Thanks for stopping by. My name is Marina. I was born and raised in Russia, graduated from college in 1997, and moved to the US to pursue my American Dream. 

In 2005, I became a mom. Will, my first-born who is now a young adult, was diagnosed with profound Autism at the age of two. His diagnosis came as a shock and changed my life trajectory forever. I found myself alone and lost with an innocent child who seemed so lost in this world, too.

Reading other Autism blogs and writing my own posts became an essential part of my coping with his diagnosis, gave me strength, helped me become a better parent, and taught me to see the beauty through the mud. The inspiration behind the theme of my blog - the Lotus - came from a quote from Roy Richard Grinker's book I read many years ago, "...the unexpected, even the beautiful, can emerge even from the undesirable, like a lotus growing out of the mud, its beauty and purity unsullied by its origin. The beauty can be found in a single person, inside of whom there’s something – no, not something ‘normal’, but a brilliant light or an inner truth struggling to blossom." 

This blog is for me, my three children, and anyone who is looking for beauty in the mud. 

I blog because of Will.