Highway

On Sunday I was driving up to our community swim club to water the planters and hanging baskets. I wasn't concentrating very well as I was thinking about leaving my son Kellen home alone...hoping he would be just fine as it would only be for about a half an hour. I was driving up the windy highway just outside of my neighborhood. As I rounded a corner just a little too close to the shoulder, I came upon you. We looked at each other in surprise. You, because I probably scared you coming around the corner like that...too close for comfort. Me, because I saw that you had Down syndrome.

Down syndrome...like my son. You looked like you might have been carrying a Bible. It was Sunday morning, so maybe you were walking home from church? If so, the closest church is quite a way up the road. Maybe you walk down the highway every Sunday..but this was only the second time our paths have crossed. I think I remember you walking further down the highway on another Sunday morning. I remember thinking it odd that I hadn't see you before and interesting that you were walking along the highway by yourself with a Bible under your arm on a Sunday morning.

Forgive me for my surprise. Of course people "like you" are able to do all kinds of independent...and even slightly dangerous things, like walk along the shoulder of a highway. I just find it ironic that not too many years ago my son who shares your diagnosis used to escape from our house when we weren't looking and ride his tricycle out onto that highway. His guardian angel watched over him and kept him safe. A concerned person would stop their car and call the police. The police would come and see his identification bracelet and bring him home. Home...where I would be frantic wondering where he'd gone. He had such an independent spirit. I think he knew exactly where he wanted to go and saw no reason why he couldn't get there on his own.

Maybe you are like that too. You know where you are going on Sunday morning. The lack of a sidewalk...or your own wheels doesn't stop you. I'm sorry if I scared you a little bit by coming around the corner a little too close to the shoulder. It crossed my mind how horrible it would have been if I had accidentally run into you. Me who has a son at home who also has Down syndrome. A son who is not able to walk around town independently...especially not along a highway. Again, forgive me for my surprise, but I do find that amazing. Amazing and inspiring.

...and I'm glad you have a guardian angel too.