Park Stories

Today I took the kids to a park. The Big Train Big Airplane Park (not its official name, just what we call it). There were a few six-year-olds playing together when we first arrived. Tralee wanted to join in their game. As I saw them running around I noticed Tralee was almost as tall as her new playmates, and she's half their age. She'll always be my little girl, even if she grows taller than me.

Tralee also became friends with a grandma playing with her grandson. They must have been friends in their last life and their spirits were drawn to each other. Tralee kept running up to this grandma every few minutes to give her hugs. She's never done this before, unless she knows the person. Luckily, this lady was nice and kept saying how much she loved it. Tralee ended up playing with her grandson, and Grandma-lady pushed both of them on the spinney thing. Tralee had a blast.

Later on a boy who looked around twelve or thirteen showed up. He reminded me of my brother Todd. I'm pretty sure he was autistic. Tralee wanted to spin with him, but he wanted to spin by himself. He looked confused when Tralee climbed up on the spinning thing with him. I took her down and told her he wanted to do it by himself, but maybe she could go spin on the other one (there are two spinning things at this park). Before I even finished my sentence the boy was headed towards the other spinning thing. Later on he starting swinging on the swings. He was making the same shouts of joy my brother Todd makes when he's happy. It was a familiar sound. A sound I grew up hearing. A sound that most people with inexperience with spirits like my brother and this boy are often scared or confused by. I listened to him scream and shout with a smile on my face, and watched as others turned to stare. The staring was familiar too, although I've never gotten used it.

We left the park about fifteen or twenty minutes later. Hunter was hungry for dinner. I looked around to find the parents or caretaker of the boy in his own world. I would have liked to say hello before we left for home, but I wasn't sure who he belonged to. There were several adults around and a teenage girl sunbathing and texting in the grass. I thought she was probably his sister or caretaker, but I wasn't sure, so I left. Sometimes it's nice to talk about Todd with someone who can relate. Growing up, I always liked understanding people who came and talked to me when I was out with Todd. I wasn't there at the time, but one time a man in a mall bought Todd a stuffed polar bear, handed it to his caretaker, and said, "This is for that young man right there." That polar bear is still a prized possession in our house. A little act of kindness goes a long way.

Tralee fell asleep on the way home from the park. It doesn't happen very often that Tralee is the one sleeping, and Hunter is awake. It's odd to have Hunter all to myself. I put Tralee on the couch since I thought she might wake up soon, and fed Hunter dinner. Tralee slept for a long time, but she still went to bed easily for us (thank goodness).

The rest of the night was spent playing with Hunter and watching Parks and Rec and The Office(our favorites).

Everyone went to bed tired and happy.