a gift

All our kids are gifts. I think most of us don't stop to put it into words though. I remember when we were going through the trauma that was finding a 'good' school for the twins one of my dearest friends kept saying that Hannah would be a wonderful asset tot he whole school community (wherever she went), a gift in fact. Well two years into the mainstream journey I can absolutely see her point. And here is one simple story about that.... Hannah has a 'wonky walk' as I describe it - she can unbalance and trip a bit more easy than her regular peers. Year 1 classroom was upstairs and so 2 middle school girls were asked to help out by taking her up in the lift - in the morning and the recess/lunch breaks and then at the end of the day. ANy additional trips downstairs are usually only with her class and so she manages the stairs. These girls have been awesome.

They have developed such a lovely relationship with hannah. They are patient with her when she is reluctant to go to class, they sometimes seek her out to play with before school and they bring her little gifts sometimes too. So it is no wonder that she adores them. When we were on holidays O/S she would often say she wanted to come back to Paris with her buddies. (they are of course very beautiful young women too - so please forgive my crude attempt to capture their personalities while protecting their identity. The last day of school arrived a week ago on Friday. We'd got the school report, sung carols int he church, given Christmas gifts and cards... this day was movies and picnics to end the year. It was mufti so Hannah had chosen her own ensemble. While on the playground waiting for the morning assembly I noticed that her shoes were on the wrong feet. I told her and she sat down to change them over. As part of the giving her greater space and independence I moved away where I could watch her - I was hoping to see that after she had fixed her shoes she would hear the music call to line up and go line up with her class without prompting. One of her buddies noticed her sitting on the ground and came straight over. She helped Hannah change her shoes then they raced back tot he line up for the assembly. During the assembly Hannah sat encircled in her buddies arms and sitting on her lap...now that interaction was a lot more about Hannah's buddy, leaving the primary school where she has thrived to head off to High School with all the excitement and fear that that entails. And I am glad that for those brief moments Hannah was able to give her comfort and peace. I know she will do great at High School but Hannah is going to miss her and her friend very much...