All lined up…

Next to July and August, our county fair season, November and December are probably our busiest months of the year. Mainly for my responsibilities at my work and our involvement with our church’s Christmas production each year. For me, both go hand-in-hand. This truly becomes a family affair each year…even Sarah Anne has become involved, last year as “baby Jesus” and this year a part of the overture number at the beginning of the show.

Matthew enjoyed a front row seat for the final dress rehearsal…this rehearsal is open to all special needs persons and their families, free of charge. We take the time to remove several pews and make adaptations such as close captioning the show on the big screen for this special night. We were honored with an audience of nearly 800 guests. What we appreciate about this unique performance is the sight of Matthew lying on the floor enjoying the lights hanging from the ceiling is not out of the ordinary…nor is the occasional need for someone in the audience to sing along with the cast and choir. In fact, a few years ago, our choir and orchestra director had a guest stand along beside him and help conduct.

One special moment I recall this past week is one I had with Matthew at Megan’s orchestra concert. I enjoyed the concert from the narthex of the church due to Matthew feeling the need to sing along to the music. We were playing his game of him signing a random sign and me copying the sign…when he was getting bored with this I took out my phone and started looking at picture with him. We came across a video I shot of one of the songs from the Christmas production…one with Megan dancing. When I pressed play and he saw and heard the first few notes he turned around and looked from the phone to the stage several times while laughing. I was overwhelmed with the fact that he associated the two things…the song from the performance and the stage where it should be happening.

We are becoming acutely aware of Matthew’s unquenchable thirst for sign language. Lately we have “sessions” with him for an hour or more at a time where he will take a puzzle piece out of a box or point to a puzzle board and want us to sign the picture. The funny thing about this arrangement is that he signs it before we do and corrects us if we are wrong. I have to admit, I am a little slower than most at learning all of the signs he knows…which total in the hundreds. I am grateful that he has patience with me and even takes my fingers and places them in the right position. I am learning more than sign during these sessions…I am learning that these times are not an interruption to my busy life. I have to remind myself that these times are not something trivial and something just to pass the time for Matthew. These times are our version of sitting in the sandbox and playing, or playing catch in the yard with a ball and glove, or throwing the football back and forth on a fall afternoon. These are relationship building times.

On Friday night, Matthew and I were going through the puzzle boards. In his own way he was keeping track of our progress. As we completed a board he would disappear and come back with another one. It wasn’t until I got up from the sofa and looked on the other side that I realized what he was doing with them. He aligned them in a straight line down the hall, adding them as we completed each one. I counted 21 boards when we finished.

As we enter this next week when most of us will be spending time with family and extended family don’t forget that the small stuff is the most meaningful. For many this is the most stressful time of the year as we try to impress those around us. Yes, the gifts are nice but they will wear out, be consumed or will lose their luster and interest. What we will be left with is the memories of the time we spent together.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel.”   Maya Angelou

Matthew, let’s go for 22 boards next time…