happiness...
Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply,
to enjoy simply, to think freely,
to risk life,
to be needed.
Storme Jameson (1891-1986), English Writer
The phone rang during dinner tonight. It was Eliza's assigned teacher. (Read the previous post to be brought up to speed.) Her voice was so friendly and warm and JUST what I needed tonight.
Reassurance. Angsting over the previous days, days ahead, the choice of which school I had to make... The voice on the other end of the phone was a prayer answered: A confident and compassionate extended hand inviting Eliza and I to step into this next chapter.
She told me she had just received the e-mail from our caseworker assigning Eliza to her class and that she hadn't yet received Eliza's file yet. She said she was so excited to have a girl join the class that she wanted to call us right away. She didn't have any girls in her class last year and this year, she only had 3 boys. You know those boys are going to be loving having beautiful Eliza in the class. Hope she's not a distraction for those poor boys.
So, we chatted about Eliza and then she happened to mention that tonight was Open House. I told her I'd love to come over w/ Eliza, if that would be okay since she didn't have Eliza's file yet and she said, "Yes, definitely, come to the Open House." So Eliza and I quickly finished up dinner and drove to the elementary school...literally 5 minutes away. The parking lot was packed. Eliza got out of the car, had to bring Barney with her, but walked (which is a big deal; she'd rather be carried in new settings). She walked all the way down the sidewalk like a big girl, into the front doors, down the hallway and into the classroom. She looked Miss Robin in the eye and smiled. That was HUGE. She did get a little nervous and want to be picked up, but I held my ground and just got down to her level for reassurance. Then she started checking out her new classroom.
Eliza has a way of "knowing" things. Because she's not verbal, you often wonder if she's "getting it", but she is. She has very good receptive understanding, but also has this "knowing". So she fiddled around while Miss Robin and I talked about what to expect, all the while I knew she was listening to us. When we got home tonight, she was very content and smiled a lot. She went right up to bed and gave me a long, tight hug, then puckered her lips for a kiss. She held her gaze in my eyes for about 20 seconds. In those moments, I know she's trying to tell me something. Tonight, I think she was telling me that "we" were going to be okay. A difficult day turned happy.
Reassurance. Angsting over the previous days, days ahead, the choice of which school I had to make... The voice on the other end of the phone was a prayer answered: A confident and compassionate extended hand inviting Eliza and I to step into this next chapter.
She told me she had just received the e-mail from our caseworker assigning Eliza to her class and that she hadn't yet received Eliza's file yet. She said she was so excited to have a girl join the class that she wanted to call us right away. She didn't have any girls in her class last year and this year, she only had 3 boys. You know those boys are going to be loving having beautiful Eliza in the class. Hope she's not a distraction for those poor boys.
So, we chatted about Eliza and then she happened to mention that tonight was Open House. I told her I'd love to come over w/ Eliza, if that would be okay since she didn't have Eliza's file yet and she said, "Yes, definitely, come to the Open House." So Eliza and I quickly finished up dinner and drove to the elementary school...literally 5 minutes away. The parking lot was packed. Eliza got out of the car, had to bring Barney with her, but walked (which is a big deal; she'd rather be carried in new settings). She walked all the way down the sidewalk like a big girl, into the front doors, down the hallway and into the classroom. She looked Miss Robin in the eye and smiled. That was HUGE. She did get a little nervous and want to be picked up, but I held my ground and just got down to her level for reassurance. Then she started checking out her new classroom.
Eliza has a way of "knowing" things. Because she's not verbal, you often wonder if she's "getting it", but she is. She has very good receptive understanding, but also has this "knowing". So she fiddled around while Miss Robin and I talked about what to expect, all the while I knew she was listening to us. When we got home tonight, she was very content and smiled a lot. She went right up to bed and gave me a long, tight hug, then puckered her lips for a kiss. She held her gaze in my eyes for about 20 seconds. In those moments, I know she's trying to tell me something. Tonight, I think she was telling me that "we" were going to be okay. A difficult day turned happy.
1 comment:
Wow.
Sorry, Sarah, it's been a while since I popped over here and I am stunned to read this diagnosis for Eliza. I'm sure you're learning to deal with it, but it's such a shock to me right now, I need a moment to process it.
I'd love to know what made you get her tested or what the symptoms are that made you wonder enough to seek counsel.
However, it sounds like her new school is going to be just wonderful for her. Her teacher sounds fantastic (as long as there are no substitute teachers!).
Okay, back to reading. I'd love to hear from you.
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