The Lucky 95%

I know I've touched on this before, but I have the kid who says hi to everyone.

He waves ecstatically to each vehicle that drives by when we are on a walk.

He waves and shouts, "Hiiiiii!" if he hears a car alarm go off or a car beeping when it locks.

He hugs his friends when he sees them.  Sometimes two or three times!  He even hugs strangers when the universe grants permission. He is no dummy. He is connected to more than we can see.

Right now he is six-and-a-half years old. I do not tell him that he can't say hi to everyone. I won't tell him that he can't give random people hugs (especially once the pandemic is over!). I will not hinder his innate, loving, accepting, inclusive behavior because that is not my place.

Someday, he will be an adult that does this.

How do I feel about that?

Kids are one thing, but as people become adults, things aren't so cute anymore.

When I was growing up, or, heck, any moment before Brady P. came into my life, I was afraid of people who said hi to everyone.

Afraid!

They just said "hi" and waved ecstatically, and I was afraid!

All I knew then was my perspective. I was obviously insecure with myself. I absolutely did not take the time to understand other people who seemed to be different than me.

Now I get to.

My previous experience gave me compassion for the people who don't say hi back to my super-friendly little boy. Most people do, by the way. Probably 95% of people are absolutely charmed by him.

The rest pretend they didn't hear him.

That used to be me!

But I can't think, "Geez, what a jerk!"

No!

I just get to think, "Yup. I used to be like that. Maybe they will understand someday."

But maybe they won't. Maybe it is not their journey, and I cannot judge. That is not my role.

Or any human's role!

We are all just here doing the best we can with what we have and what we know.

That's exactly what Brady P. is doing.

He lifts the hearts and spirits of 95% of the people he meets just by being himself.

It's true that you can't please everyone, but 95% isn't bad.

That other 5% may or may not figure it out someday. I was so ignorant about it that the type of person I used to turn my back to came out of my own body and now we spend nearly every day together.

Ummm, message received!

And now we get to share that message with others.

Sunday was World Down Syndrome Day. 3/21. It stands for Trisomy 21 which means there are 3 chromosomes on the 21st pair. Pretty clever, hey?

It's also the first day of spring, and this year in the harbor, it was glorious, so we had a little parade to celebrate!

You'll have to visit the blog to see the video. Thank you to my friend Steve for putting it together!

And considering the fact that I am still a nut that waves to random people, I will be proud of him when he does that forever too.