Angie and I spent last week in New York City. This was a much needed break from the madness of start-up life and the daily adventures of a family living with autism. We have been married for twelve and a half years. A good portion of the first five years was spent traveling to some very fun places. When you have a child with autism, travel often just flies out the window like the rest of your "planned life." Depending on circumstances, everything you knew prior to autism may seem like it vanishes into thin air.

There is no question in my mind, spending significant amounts of money on therapy has made a tremendous difference in Sam's life. It was (and is) always a priority to ensure we are spending time and investing in the "right" therapies based on his needs. For this reason, we launched AutismSpot so families and professionals can have immediate access to information about all of the different options they have available. Delivering this critical information in an entirely new format and in an unbiased manner has always been top of mind. It's one year later and AutismSpot is now serving families and professionals in 123 countries. What comes next? That will receive a stand alone blog so check back soon.

Now, back to New York and why it was so important....

For years I worked in the public sector at entertainment, technology, and software companies. I left the public sector to become COO of an early stage software company and then co-founded RipSolve, LLC which we still own today. Creating projectLD with Kevin was a dream come true. We have been close friends for sixteen years and Rebecca and Angie have been best friends for much longer than that. Given Kevin and I have built start-up companies independent of each other, we knew what it meant combining forces and what the process would look like. We also had an idea of the the toll it would take on our families. Having our good friend Raffi involved was very important and helped round out our vision and strategy for projectLD. Our wives were in total and complete support....they said there is nothing that should stand in our way of making projectLD come to life. This is a complete team experience. None of this would be possible without my amazing and talented wife, Angie. I married way, way up the chain.

We went to New York with no children (Thanks GG!) and met up with some wonderful friends. Chris surprised Danielle with four tickets to the Rachael Ray show that he purchased at a charity auction for her birthday. They called us with a directive....Danielle said something similar to, "you two WILL BE GOING to New York with us, no questions asked. You need this time to be together and take a break."

We stayed at a lovely neighborhood boutique hotel in Manhattan. Danielle is pregnant with their second child and she did a wonderful job of coordinating the plans and getting everyone's input. You would think that being near the final stage of pregnancy would have slowed this sweet woman down.......well, you should see the video of me running right next to her as we sprint to the Rachael Ray Show and dodge President Bush's motorcade (he was there speaking at the UN). I had a feeling Chris was really going to owe me one if I delivered his second born on the streets of New York during morning rush hour. We made it, no birthing occurred.

Angie and I love activity. Anyone who has spent time with us during the last 15 years knows that "slow" doesn't fit in well with us. We love the energy of Manhattan. More importantly, I really enjoyed holding Angie's hand, the food tour of Greenwich Village, seeing Legally Blonde on Broadway, the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, touring Brooklyn, walking through Central Park, visiting the World Trade Center Memorial, taking pictures of Macy's EXIT signs for Sam, and getting Luke the coolest super hero puzzle you have ever seen.

By taking time to focus on our relationship....we become a better Mommy and Daddy. There is something so special about sharing adventures with your best friend and the love of your life.