My Round Guy in An Oblong World

A few weeks ago, Aaron was eating some of his favorite Skittles when he came upon an idea, one that he loves.

“Mom?” he asked.  “Can I take some of my Skittles to Paradigm to share with Shauna and Stephanie?”

Aaron loves to share things, and we love that he loves to share…within reason.  For instance, I had to say no when he wanted to share some of my jewelry a long time ago.  We have said no to him when he tried to sneak out of the house with some of his DVD’s or CD’s that he wanted to share.  But Skittles?  Sure!

So Aaron promptly went to the kitchen and grabbed two sandwich bags.  Later, I found this.

I had to laugh.  Really?  Just three little Skittles per bag?  But for some reason, Aaron thought that three was plenty and so I let it go, hoping that Shauna and Stephanie enjoyed every little bite of their whopping three Skittles.

Days later, I bought Aaron some Good and Plenty candy for his weekend treat.  He began eating them as we watched a show that night.  I noticed, though, that he was laying aside some his candies while he ate others.  I asked him about it.

“These,” he said, pointing to the ones outside the bowl, “are not like the rest.  They’re different.”

Sure enough, the ones he put aside were different.  They were round instead of oblong.  To Aaron, round Good and Plenty candies do not belong in the same bowl as the normal, oblong Good and Plenty’s. 

I later also found three more misfit, round candies that Aaron had placed on the shelf under the table. 

Isn’t that interesting?  To Aaron, he just couldn’t tolerate mixing the round with the oblong.  I guarantee that if I had tried to sneak the round candies back into the bowl with the oblongs, then Aaron would have once again removed them. 

Aaron has so much to share with the world, like his Skittles that he wanted to share with his friends.  He can be bright and colorful, interesting and very funny. 

He is also quite unique, not fitting in with much of the rest of us in ways that we all notice.  Yet he IS still one of us.  He’s just a different shape, so to speak, but that doesn’t make him less than us or worse than us in any way.  Definitely not!

I share Aaron with others through this blog in order for people to understand how amazing our special ones are.  Aaron was created by God to be exactly who he is.  It’s up to me…to all of us…to understand and appreciate him.  Oh, he can be so difficult to understand sometimes.  And at times…tired times…embarrassing times…challenging times…I really falter in my appreciation of Aaron.  I’m human. 

But may I never set him aside in the sense of isolating him or shaming him.  And woe to the person who does, for this Mama Bear will roar. 

Yet Aaron sets himself apart in ways that he totally doesn’t realize.  It’s part of his charm…and part of the reason that on occasion my nerves are shot!

He can make such a spectacle of himself in public and not be one bit embarrassed.  I have many Wal-Mart stories that prove this point.  A recent one:  I’ve been working with Aaron about looking in both directions before crossing traffic.  He looks at his feet, which is not good!  I’m always telling him to look around, but still he looks at his feet.  So the other day at Wal-Mart, as we walked out of the store and were nearing the crosswalk, I saw Aaron once again looking at his feet.  “Aaron!” I sharply said.  “Look UP!”  And good old Aaron stopped abruptly in the middle of the crosswalk, with stopped cars on both sides, and looked up…at the SKY!!  I just shook my head, told Aaron to look for CARS, and didn’t dare look at the drivers to see what looks they were giving US!!  I wonder if they looked up to see what was in the sky that was so interesting?!

At a convenience store this week, Aaron ordered a pretzel on the computer in the café as I’ve taught him to do.  But Aaron still isn’t sure that the girl behind the counter actually receives his order because he hasn’t said anything to her.  After he placed his order, he leaned around the counter to the clueless attendant and loudly said, as he rubbed his hands together, “I ordered my order!!”

Some people get Aaron and some people just don’t.  She just didn’t, so she looked at him with impatience, which I saw.  But Aaron didn’t see that at all.  He thought she simply didn’t hear him, so he repeated it again…loudly, again.  “I ordered my order!!” 

“He’s just telling you he put in his order,” I explained to her as I led Aaron away from the counter and toward the chocolate milk he wanted.  I thought it was funny…and sad…and I was a little angry at the girl’s impatience.  But I know that to some, Aaron is an odd shape, so to speak.  Hard to figure out.  Off-putting, even.

I have to say, though, that he makes me laugh when he does things like that.  He’s so one-of-a-kind…so himself…so uninhibited.  Oh yeah, have I been humiliated and red-faced and angered and surprised!

But I’ve also been blessed and taught so much and humbled and thankful.  And those moments…those lessons…I must remember and focus on and treasure.

Like this one:

See what I mean?  He’s most certainly my round guy in an oblong world!