Here he is, waiting for his bus to arrive one school morning. Michael loves school. He says, "bus" repeatedly when he's not at school, checking with us often to make sure he gets to go back the next day! I don't think there's any routine he likes quite so much, with the possible exception of mealtimes! He's friendly to peers and teachers, loves to "high-five," hug, and interact with others, often commenting about them with single words combined to make a thought. He uses these short and sweet sentence creations intermittently, and although outsiders sometimes don't understand his words, we can usually make out what he's saying.
Once when we were expecting a visit from his uncle soon, he would say his name, and then "here. soon. swim." He was looking forward to the visit and to swimming in our pool with his uncle. Michael loves all visitors, family friends, everyone he sees in stores, all his teachers, and all animals - except those which race toward him or jump on him suddenly.
So here are enumerated just a few sweet things about Michael which endear him to us (thankfully!) so that we can endure the "rest!"
- The sweet, infectious giggles. Not the psychotic ones - just the little boyish ones, which he emits from time to time when he is very happy.
- The way he will sometimes imitate animals he loves, and almost seem to become them. It's cute for a while, anyway.
- The lists. And he sure loves to make them when we're headed to the grocery store! Sometimes he will list things out for us to write down, with sign language or a semblance of the spoken word itself. Other times, he will use a supermarket advertisement, and mark items he wants us to buy!
- The neatness. Oh yes, autistic children are generally concerned about all things orderly. I will often catch him putting something away which I had long since forgotten about, with the long list of my daily tasks - and he always puts it just where it belongs.
- Doing something nice for you when you least expect it. Once recently, I really needed my reading glasses and was so comfy under my afghan, upstairs, that I didn't want to get up to go find them! I called down for one of my "normal" children to bring them to me, and a few moments later, up came Michael, glasses in hand, and saying "yeah!"
- The gentleness, when he is not being wild, or attacking you. OK, that sounds funny. You know from my previous post that all is not rosy in Michael-world. But in between some of the trying times, with the awful behaviors, there is a simply untainted, pristine and pure side of Michael which is somehow akin to the Divine. He plants upon you a gentle kiss, ever-so-softly, and you think it was the kiss of a butterfly landing gently on you in splendor. He pats you on your forearm (even if only moments after ravaging it with his sharp nails, and signing "sorry...") and says repeatedly, "Nice!" until you almost believe him, and you agree. He comes over to you unexpectedly one day, and begins to gently scratch and rub your back in the nurturing way a parent would, to a child, while praying beside him on his bed.
- His soft, soft skin - which is rivaled only by a newborn baby's skin. How does it stay so soft? It's a little bit like his spirit. Even though it may most likely be anguished daily by its lack of communion with a speaking world, it somehow possesses an inexplicable presence which can only be understood as Divine.
- The sweet, infectious giggles. Did I mention them? How could I not? They, in fact, keep us on the path of victorious love for our son.
Patient in Hope,
Elise
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