My Heart

We went to Astoria today to take my dad his Father's Day gift of three Koi for his backyard pond.  We had a great visit and then we (Toby, Angela and I) stopped at Fort George Brewery for dinner.  If you have not been there, you should go.  The atmosphere is relaxed and inviting and the menu is great.

The owners of the restaurant set up a play space with toys and games in a corner near our table.  At first Angie did not want to play but then three boys close to her age entered the play area.  She decided to join them and Toby and I watched while we waited for our dinner.  Those boys are lucky I did not kidnap them.  They came close to Miss Angela right away, asked her name, and started helping her with the games that were out.  They smiled, laughed, high-fived, smiled, fist-bumped, and played.  At one point, one of the boys came to me and said, "Your daughter is SO cute."  Those boys acted like she was the best thing since cell phones. Angela asked us to get her a box because she did not want to stop playing to eat.  We spoke to the boys parents before we left and they were just as enamored with Angela as we were with their sons.

Let me be very clear........we have moved past the idea of being grateful when children play with Angela.  Why should we be?  She is funny, kind, sweet, engaging, social, and so much more.  This is a challenge, I think, for many parents of children with special needs.  Here is what we have decided-kids with special needs are more like other children than they are different.  They have so much to offer other kids, and these boys knew it.  I think the idea of typically developing children avoiding children with special is needs is born in the minds of adults.  Kids do not care.  There are exceptions of course but we rarely experience kids being unkind to our girl.

Today was a good day.  I loved watching Angela play with her new friends and to see their delight in her.  We have had some tough days lately and I am grateful for the reminder of our girl's ability to impact others with her amazing spirit.  And, as a bonus, I ran into my beautiful cousin Meghan on my way out.  It was a very good day.