A Little, Old Man

A few weeks ago I took Alyssa and Jared to Thanksgiving Point's Tulip Festival.  It was a beautiful evening and the tulips were breathtaking!  There is a big, grassy hill that all of the kids love to roll and run down.  Jared decided that he wanted to join in.  This is not a little hill.  It is pretty steep and long but Jared was determined to join in on the fun.  He did his slow little walk run all of the way down the long hill and then turned around and started back up.  He was slow but determined on his trek back up and there were many kids that lapped him several times over during his journey.  He had a smile on his face the whole time and loved it so much that he turned around at the top and started the trek all over again.  He did this several times and never once asked for help up the hill.  "Slow and steady wins the race" came to mind as I watched him going up and down the hill.

On his third or fourth time up the hill a woman came up next to him and I could tell that she was talking to him but I couldn't hear what she said.  As Jared reached the top and then decided to "sled" down the hill, she came over and started asking me about Jared.  She is an audiologist and noticed his hearing aides and was curious about him.  I told her all of Jared's unique challenges and she then said, 

"Now it all makes sense.  I was watching him go up that hill and he just reminded me of this little old man shuffling away.  I could even picture him as an old man shuffling along.  But now I see that he has an old spirit.  Many kids like Jared have old spirits.  You can see it in their eyes." 

 I have often thought as I look into Jared's eyes, that there is wisdom there that I can't comprehend.  His body is not perfect, but his sweet, wise spirit is and sometimes we get a glimpse of that.  I am grateful that this woman reminded me of that.  I am so grateful for the blessing it is to have Jared, and all of my children, in my life.  They are teaching me so much.

May the Force Be With You

The Children's Hospital is undergoing some renovations over the next year and because nasty bugs can hide in walls and possibly be released in the air when they are knocked down, all transplant patients are required to wear masks at the hospital for the next little while.  It has been a while since Jared had to wear one of these but he was cooperative as usual.  At his last transplant clinic, as I was checking him in, he came up to me and said, "Mom, I look like Darth Vader!"  He was currently in a Star Wars obsession so it was a logical comparison.  The ladies at the check-in desk thought that he was so cute and were impressed with how he turned a not so nice situation into a positive.  For the rest of clinic he told people that he was Darth Vader and they played along and referred to him as such.  As we were playing along with him I told him that I hoped that he was the "good Darth Vader" and he politely told me that no, he was the "evil Darth Vader"  It was so funny how he said it.  He would come up to me and quietly, under his breath he would say, "I am Darth Vader Mommy, and I am still evil."  He would then do the Darth Vader breathing sound.  He kept all of us smiling at clinic that day although I am still hoping that he will be the "good Darth Vader" next time!