Inside his Cape Coral home, Luke Umphries is doing something he never thought he could: teaching himself how to be a songwriter.
"I've always admired songwriters. I've always been enamored by the songwriting process, I just didn't know how to do it," said Luke.
Luke taught himself note by note and lyric by lyric.
"I just kind of sang it in my head, trying over and over on how I want it to sound," said Luke. "I plucked a few notes on the guitar to figure out even what notes they were because I didn't even know that."
Learning the technique was tough, but what did come easily was the message sang from the heart. For the past year, Luke created his music video, " Thanks Mom ," dedicated to his wife, Deb, as a Mother's Day "thank you" from their son, Tim.
"When he was 4 years old, they said he was diagnosed with full-blown Autism," said Deb.
No,w at 26 years old, Tim still struggles to fully express himself.
"I'll say I love you and he'll say it back," said Deb. "He's so particular about the intonation...even if I say it in a different tone, he won't say it back."
But one day, after listening to the song, Deb received another amazingly unexpected gift.
"After probably the 3rd or 4th time playing it, I heard him say thanks, mom, after the song, and I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe he said that spontaneously," said Deb. "Autism really is such an individual journey, and hearing those words just made 26 years of emotions come out all in four minutes."
So this Mother's Day, it may not be flowers, chocolates, or a music video. Sometimes the best gift to give mom is simply being seen.
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