Welcome back! If this is your first time joining this blog, welcome! Feel free to browse through past posts. We are a family with two natural sons (Caleb almost 7 & Joshua 3) with Down syndrome (DS) and this blog shares some of our adventures.
I saw something totally amazing the other day! I will not be talking specifically about DS in this post, but because I have children with special needs I want share this amazing event. Let me set the stage for you. First, we live on a VERY busy street. Second, just down the road a block (if even that) there is a workshop for adults with special needs, Silver Creek Mill.
I was sitting in the back yard enjoying the beautiful spring weather when a young man came around the corner (off the busy road onto the side street). He had a back pack on and he had a huge umbrella open because it looked like it could rain. I knew this young man did live on our street, but I thought he might be visiting a friend. At a closer look I knew he probably should not be walking around by himself... I could not tell what his special needs were but I knew there were some... just then a 20-something man came around the corner... I thought, "Oh, good this must be his 'helper'! They must be from Silver Creek and are out enjoying a nice walk!" So I did not move from my chair.
But then a moment later, the umbrella boy came back toward the main drag with no helper... "Oh, no! I need to call someone... who? The cops? Silver Creek?" I went inside and grab the phone and then ran to the window with the lap top... I was still not sure who I should call but I wanted to keep an eye on this young man. I was starting to have some anxiety for him... who is he? Do they know he is wandering the streets by himself? What if that were my child? How should I approach him? What do I say? Would he run into the street if I talk to him? As I was gazing out the window, still with a fuzzy brain about who needed to be called or what to do, I saw it... it only lasted 15 seconds 30 at the most...
The umbrella boy was standing at my neighbor's chain linked fence petting a wild bird! Just standing there... backpack on, umbrella in hand... gently stoking this birds head! Not caring what was going on around him... he lovingly caressed this bird with his bare hands. I thought my eyes were tricking me until the 20-something man came back followed by a van to pick up the umbrella boy... the bird flew off at the on coming commotion.
I stood at the window phone in hand with my mouth gaping open... "Wow that was AMAZING!" I just kept repeating to myself, "That kid was petting a bird, a WILD bird! AMAZING!" I could not believe it! Let's be real, my mom feeds Blue Jays on her back deck, by the end of the summer they will SOMETIMES eat out her hand, sometimes... This kid just walked up to a bird and started petting it! It could have been sick I guess, but it did not flop or struggle to fly off it just flew away, far away, without effort....
Later that day I was still totally amazed! I kept obsessing over what I saw, "What an amazing gift God has given that young man... I don't know what he can't do... but I know I will never be able to do what he just did! Amazing!" I will never know who that boy was, what his "special" issues are, or if he was even suppose to be with those people. What I do know is that God gave me a gift! I was at the right place, at the right time, with my eyes open! Watching umbrella boy did make me think about my boys... what are the amazing things they are doing right in front of me? Am I watching? Do I really see their amazing gifts? There are lists of things that they will never do, but what can they do?
So, please keep your eyes open and look for the AMAZING things around you!
God, thank you for that gift! Please help me to keep my eyes open! I want to see the amazing things you are doing in my life and in the life of my boys!
