Remember Him?

You have seen this guy before. This is my youngest child, Daniel when in trouble, Dan when he is acting like a grown up and Danny when the sweetness of his nature comes to the surface. He is an adult with developmental disabilities and always struggling to be seen as an sdult with his act together. I have always worried about Dan and what would become of him as he grew older. I am the most fortunate of mom's as both my children have grown up to be good caring adults who often put others ahead of themselves. Danny will call to let me know there is an Amber alert for a lost child and continue to update me until the problem is resolved. When he was a little guy he began to look forward to the day when he would have a car of his own. Since I am always looking ahead I worried what might happen when the magical age of sixteen came around and he did not get that car he was dreaming about. That day came and went and he simply continued to speak of someday.......

His dad had several strokes over the last year and a half and it was quite awhile before Danny stopped asking me if his dad was going to die. Like his older sister he began to be one of the care givers in the family. He fetches for dad, wheels him in to dinner or to the bathroom, watches over him outside and endlessly uses dad's laptop to search out the web sight of his high school or any new news of his beloved "Dukes of Hazard"
I have not had as much time as I would have to attend to Danny's needs over the last year and counting, much to my sorrow. I often feel guilty about that. His sister and "brother" have been amazing. I don't know what I would have done without them. However, it seems that without even trying I have hit a home run with the boy in my dreams. The shoes above look a lot like the ones we bought for Dad to use during the months of therapy and beyond.

A friend of Dan's at the apartment complex shared with us a sweet little thing he had observed about Danny since the new shoes arrived. Danny does not walk on the grass because he doesn't want to get his new shoes dirty. Oh that makes me smile! Those of you in my situation will understand how I felt. As Danny grew up and older I remember hoping, perhaps praying that I could always see that little boy inside the man struggling to be a grown up. The little guy who could always make me smile. It has been a long year Danny but you did it.