Pay Attention -- There ARE Angels Amongst Us!

There are Angels Amongst Us -- my children with and without Down syndrome and all the beautiful children in the world notwithstanding -- and we'd all do well to recognize when one crosses our path. Believe it or not -- there are people in this world -- adults even -- who do nice things for others... JUST BECAUSE!

I've been remiss in recognizing the angels who've crossed my path lately. But, something happened yesterday that reminded me to get back into a state of thankfulness and mindfulness and to notice the good in people (instead of noticing all the in-your-face, obnoxious, me-first attitudes I see demonstrated daily)!

My afternoon school pick-ups can be pretty stressful for me as it's a race against the clock traipsing literally from one side of Long Island to another to retrieve my children from their respective schools at dismissal time. Still, I try to insulate my children from that stress by working in a bit of fun and games upon exiting their school. Actually, we're a bit famous for our after-school running-around antics at The Boys' school. Read: well known with the other kids and parents for laughing and playing and, unfortunately, occasionally being reprimanded by building personnel... for having too much fun. That's my take on it anyway! (Note: For the record, my children are by no means out of control or wild. They do nothing "wrong". They just play and laugh... a LOT! But their special-needs pre- school is located on the first sub floor of an office building so any "childish" behavior is not well tolerated... hmmm. (Did I mention my boys have been blessed with an extra 21st chromosome each... matter of fact, the exact same 21st chromosome since they're identical twins?)

The Boys playing Hide-n-Seek behind the pillars in the school's atrium



The other day we had very limited time for our usual post-school game of slo-mo chase and hide-n-seek lest we leave the poor Old Soul abandoned at her school door. My boys and I pushed the giant glass doors open together with exaggerated effort and as we passed through, my two beautiful Little Men noticed a gentleman rapidly approaching behind us... so they politely held the doors open for him. Impressed, the man said a sincere thank you to The Boys which was rewarded with a chorus of you're welcomes. The man smiled and moved on, glancing back several times to catch a last glimpse of them as he went. Within a few minutes we were counting our way up the steps to the parking lot, as usual, when our "door man" returned carrying 2 dum-dum lollipops for the boys. With a great big and most-sincere smile, he handed one to each of them. I thanked him heartily; The boys thanked him equally well; And then he said thank you... to ME!

The kindness of strangers often brings tears to my eyes. I don't know why he did what he did or said what he said. But I am so grateful for his kind actions and words!