pool friend

On Friday we went to Gtown for my pre-op appointment.  G watched the kids at grandpa's house.  Hurray for Netflix.  How to train your dragon is a real treat.  I brought a picnic because we wanted to go swimming at a pool that has a climbing wall and has free family swim on Fridays.  Yay!  Grandma L came to the appointment with me and got to see the kids afterward.

While at the pool a young man saw us signing.  He asked me about what we were doing and introduced himself as having autism.  He was very interested in G and expressed sadness that G couldn't hear.  I said it was nice that he goes to a school where everyone signs.  The young man said he'd like to be G's friend and had me follow them around in the pool so I could interpret between them.  The young man showed G his yo-yo tricks and asked G about his paracord bracelet.  G was busy following B and L around but was polite about talking with the young man.  I don't know if G's ever had someone be so interested in being his friend like that.

I was grateful for the kindness of the other teenagers at the pool.  The young man was from a neighboring town so he probably didn't know them from school.  But the other 10-14 year old young men have gone to school with autistic children and learned to be kind.  I kept my eye on him as the other young men played sharks and minnows.  I'm always grateful to see people be kind.

When it was time to go the young man asked G if he could have his paracord bracelet.  G said "sure" and then we drove home.