Nearly every day that Aaron is at his day group, one of the staff will take him the short distance down the road to the nearby Quik Trip. This little outing is the highlight of Aaron’s day. He loves picking out what food and drink he will buy.
Aaron especially loves Skittles, but his picky mom (ME!) has told him that he does not need to buy Skittles every day…and he definitely does NOT need to spend the majority of his money on the big bag of Skittles. A small bag of Skittles a couple times a week is OK.
Aaron has made this rule of Mom’s a big deal. A very big deal. He has talked it to death with me…teased relentlessly about buying Skittles when he didn’t buy them…told the staff over and over and over again about how “Mom said NOT to by Skittles!!…and I am quite sure, has talked loudly and clearly to the Quik Trip staff about how his Mom said not to buy Skittles.
During Christmas, Aaron was taken on his regular trip to Quik Trip. And guess what? He was given a special gift from the workers there.
You can probably guess what it was.
A very BIG container of yummy Skittles!!
Just look at Aaron’s face and you won’t need me to tell you how happy he was.
How I laughed when I saw these pictures!
But more than laughter, I was so touched by the kindness of the Quik Trip workers who obviously have gotten a kick out of talkative Aaron’s Skittles stories.
What a very nice thing for them to do!
Fast forward now to last week. Aaron and I had run into our nearby Dillon’s, where he hightailed it to the deli counter as soon as we walked in the door. I finally caught up to him, only to see him bent over rubbing his hands together and talking loudly in great delight.
“MOM!!” he nearly yelled, “they have Cheddar Pasta Salad today!!!”
Aaron’s love of Cheddar Pasta Salad is well known among the deli staff. Actually, it’s well known among many of the Dillon’s staff in other departments as well because Aaron makes sure that everybody is at the receiving end of his talking.
So, on this day I agreed to let him buy a Cheddar Pasta Salad…a LARGE!!…of course!
The very nice woman behind the counter has been getting to know me and Aaron. She is very patient with Aaron no matter how busy she is. She has experience with autism because of her own young son.
She happily filled the large container to the brim with the salad while Aaron excitedly oversaw her every move, all the while eagerly talking to her about the upcoming super bowl game. She told us how busy the deli was as they were preparing platters for the game, and then asked if we would like to see one of the deli trays she had just made.
She showed us the pretty tray and pointed out the super bowl ring that was part of the decoration on the side.
“Hey Aaron,” she said, “would you like a super bowl ring?”
“Yeah!!” he eagerly answered.
She handed him a ring and he put it right on his finger, a smile spread across his face.
At Meals on Wheels a couple days later, he wore that ring and showed it to everyone on our route.
There it was on his finger while we ate our burgers later.
And I was impressed with how the kindnesses shown to Aaron in these two experiences also show the caring hearts in so many people that cross our paths. Kindness doesn’t have to come in the form of giving Aaron things, either.
Kindness is also shown by a smile.
Or by not staring at Aaron like he is some sort of oddity.
And certainly, by being willing to listen to Aaron if he happily corners you somewhere with talk of his latest game or book or movie or SKITTLES!!
Being kind to our special son is a huge gift to not only Aaron, but to those of us who love him so much as well.
All our special people will thrive under the sunlight of love and kindness that shines down on them from those we encounter every day.
I am very thankful for those that know this and practice it in our lives.
Pass the Skittles, Aaron!