trick or treat for me and one for my brudder

Monday night was our trick-or-treat night.  SJ was so excited.  He loves everything about Halloween, but this is probably what he loves the most!  He couldn't wait to get on his Waluigi costume.  I told him to wait until after dinner to put it on.  He gobbled up his food so fast and then he ran upstairs to get changed.  A yearly tradition in our house is to take pictures of the boys on the front porch in front of their pumpkins.  SJ gladly posed in front of his Luigi inspired pumpkin.  Eventhough Bob wasn't feeling 100%, I still had him put on his costume (a $5 sheet from Wal-mart, which he cut out two eye holes...he was "classic ghost".)  He did agree to pose for pictures with SJ, but asked if he could skip trick-or-treating and stay at home.  I assumed that our one neighbor boy would want to trick-or-treat with the boys and I was correct.  He ended up trick-or-treating with SJ.  My husband took the two boys around, while Bob and I stayed at home to pass out the candy.  We had also turned our basement into a "Haunted Basement".  (To view our Haunted Basement, click on this link:  http://youtu.be/qz9xKnIkVuI)  Bob was in charge of taking the trick-or-treaters through the basement.
Meanwhile, SJ and the neighbor boy were going from house to house.  If they didn't answer the doors immediately, SJ and the boy would knock on the doors very loudly.  They would yell "Trick-or-Treat".  SJ would then ask each neighbor for a piece of candy for his sick "brudder".  When my husband told me that SJ was doing that, it just touched my heart.  It was so sweet that SJ would think to ask for treats for his brother.  He did this without any prompting or cues from my husband.  He did it all on his own.  It is such a great feeling to see a child, who 4 years ago wouldn't even look into a non-family member's eyes, exhibit such a loving act. 
So for those of you who are just beginning to experience what Autism is, take heart in the fact that it can get better.  It can get easier.  It can even sometimes appear to be invisible.  SJ is living proof of that!