One Leaf

Last week I took Bert on a walk through the neighborhood. We needed to get some fresh air, get out of his bedroom, and reset after yet another stressful hour of occupational therapy. We were headed down our neighborhood's main street when I spotted this beautiful maple tree in our neighbor's yard that has these stunning red leaves, many of which have fallen to the ground. Bert loves leaves. He loves to sit in the grass and play with leaves. I picked up one of the vibrant red ones, and I held it out to him to have. I wish you could have seen the smile on his face. He was so happy to get that leaf. He clutched that thing in his chubby little hand for the next 45 minutes. We passed a couple little children on our walk, too, and I'd always stop and say hello, and then I'd bend down to Bert and say, "Bert, can you wave hello?" The thing is, Bert does have the ability to wave, but often he won't, but what he will do is give every single person the biggest smile because Bert doesn't know a stranger and just loves people. 

Once Joe and I watched another child grab a toy out of Bert's hand as he was sitting and playing. Bert just looked at her, picked up another toy, and kept playing. I share all this because this might be my favorite thing about Bert. He is easily contented. That's not to say he doesn't cry or have a bad attitude -- or want to eat the food you have -- sometimes. But he's spent his short lifetime hearing about all the things he's behind in, all the "important" skills like sitting and standing and walking. But how happy he gets when you hand him a simple leaf or you just smile at him, it's a beautiful thing. And I think I would like to try to be that way.