Tonight Bob and I went out for dinner alone. We went to Ginnapolis at Compuware. There was a game tonight so it was fairly busy. Sitting at the table next to us was a couple family's with a few boys that looked around Joe's age. Both Bob and I after sitting there for just a few minutes looked at each other with kinda heavy hearts and almost at the exact same time said "I wish our little guy would start to grow up" . It's impossible to ignore Joe's disabilities and differences but in every day life at home he's just one of the boys. Anyway, as we sat there, we started to realize something about one of the boys at the table, he was a real brat. He would insult the others, spit water at them, extremely arrogant and just down right mean. At one point, one of the other boys dropped his spoon and when he went to pick it up, the brat stomped on his hand. After about 15 minutes of listening and watching this go on, Bob and I looked at each other and just smiled. Sometimes, God needs to remind us how very blessed we are to have our Joe. Yes, he struggles. But, he is a sweet and loving little guy. He likes everyone and wants to be every one's friend. I often wonder if he wishes he were more like the others or if he even knows that he's the one that's different. As we were leaving, in the lobby was a young mom with a little guy probably around 4 or so in a stroller holding a smoke detector(yes). His mom was trying to keep him happy but he was obviously agitated and not a happy guy. He was flapping his hands and arching his back. He would throw the smoke detector and she would hand it back to him just for him to do it all over again. I think he was autistic. His Mom was so patient and tried to comfort him but nothing she did helped. I could see in her face that she was tired and frustrated herself. I couldn't help but hope and pray that she knows that her little guy is a blessing from God. It's not always apparent, but we know in our hearts.
3 comments:
Joe is all right, he has ideas in his head, and I noticed that i could tell what he was saying at Cory Hanes party, has someone new been working with him with speech lately?
Heather says:
I could understand him well yesterday too. He was talking about going hunting for deer in the backyard:) (totally something Joe would talk about!), and I kind of just told him they were like our pets and we don’t hunt them here, just watch them. He definitely is speaking better, and he will continue to speak better and better. I believe amazing things will happen for Joe!
Thanks guys, It's great to hear from others that aren't with Joe on a daily basis are seeing an improvement. It;s not always easy to see on a daily basis.
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