I took Aaron to the lab this morning for his routine blood work that he needed to have done before his Epilepsy check-up in a couple weeks. Aaron knows the routine well...........and so do I. As I check him in at the front desk, I am amazed as always that the receptionist doesn't know how to pronounce any of his meds. Seriously..........can she not even sound it out? Oh well - I have other things on my mind as I gently oversee Aaron and his curiosity as we stand there waiting for her to figure out her pronunciations. He loves the green Indian mask kleenex holder.......the one where the kleenex is coming out of the mask's nose. This is right up Aaron's alley, believe me! But he also has to pick up the little rubber bear and the hand sanitizer and a pen that is laying there.........as I watch to be sure he doesn't slip the coveted pen into his pocket. I know his tricks!
The waiting room was empty, which is always a blessing...........so we were able to head straight back and let Aaron sit in the chair. He stuck his arm out.........the arm with his watch pushed halfway up to his elbow. And I wonder what the tech thought of that watch...........and what she thought of the funny mouth noises Aaron makes...........and I realized that we are also blessed by the fact that Aaron has never been bothered by needles and tests. He watches her carefully as she prepares the vials and then steps away to do something.......and I watch Aaron carefully as his eyes roam over the very interesting table right beside him, full of all the vials and the tourniquets and so many other interesting things......things that he will pick up to examine if I don't keep an eagle eye on his every move. She returns, and he watches every part of the process of having his blood drawn. He rarely even flinches when the needle enters his vein, and he keeps a curious eye on each move that she makes as his blood is removed.
Soon we were on our way, and on this particular morning I told Aaron that we would go up the road to Wal-Mart. Happy, happy Aaron! He talked the whole way about this and that, as he always does, but was especially excited to tell me about a car he had seen the day before. "Mom! I saw a car yesterday with TWO policemen beside it. It didn't look like there was a wreck, but the car's LID was popped up!" So we talked about why car lids sometimes pop up and why the police were there............as we walked into Wal-Mart and Aaron waved at the outdoor cameras as he always does. Good morning, security guards! Smile!
This was a trip for junk food, I will admit. This made Aaron even happier, of course. I told him to choose a drink and of course he said, "Can I have beer?" He says this a lot, and he always laughs, and if I don't laugh then he will repeat it until I do.......so I laugh and he chooses his flavored tea and off we go to the chip and candy aisle. He carefully mulled over the selections, knowing that Mom has limits, and after choosing some Twizzlers he suddenly turned and said, "Mom, can I buy Dad something? I love him!" I wonder if the shock showed on my face. Aaron rarely, rarely, offers up such sentiment.........and without being prodded or reminded...........this was totally spontaneous from him. This was a proud moment for me and I was hoping that the other shoppers nearby heard my son as he wanted to buy his Dad something............his dad whom he LOVED!! I have lots of moments with Aaron when we are out in public...........embarrassing moments and frustrating moments and tense moments.........but not very many truly proud moments. Of course, I was hoping that these same shoppers didn't hear Aaron asking if he could have beer or hear him talking about how he likes to make funny comments about the women's bras. Let me have my ONE proud moment, OK?!
We went over to the beef jerky aisle as I looked for something that Gary would like in the line of meat or trail mix.......not candy for Gary. Aaron looked over the selection quickly as he was in a hurry to go to the DVD aisle and being loving to Dad was taking a little more time than he wanted. "Mom, does Dad like beef and jerky?" And Aaron was off in a trot to look at DVDs as I chose something............straight from Aaron's heart........but this is something else that we understand about our Aaron.
We looked at DVDs and Aaron had to rush over to ask the sales clerk for help even as I told him not to bother her. This happens every time that we are in any store. I wonder if the sales clerks all know Aaron and dread his arrival. Oh well.........I thanked her and once again told Aaron he didn't need to bother her. We chose a cheap DVD..........Chuck Norris - hopefully full of excitement but good values. Soon we had paid and were heading out the door, where Aaron just HAD to stop at the ice machine. There was a repairman on a ladder, with his head stuck in the open door of the machine and Aaron asked him if the machine was broken. I wanted to be sarcastic and tell Aaron no, that this man was just trying to cool his head.......but Aaron doesn't get sarcasm so I just smiled and hoped that nice man didn't mind answering a silly question.
Soon we were home again, home again. Aaron made sure he grabbed the bag with his DVD first and then helped carry in a couple more. He ran downstairs to show Gary his new movie, and then ran back down to take him his turkey sausage rolls. Then it was up to his room, where he turned on his fans and put on his headphones and began whatever it was he wanted to do on his computer.
I will probably hide the Nutty Bars, knowing that if I don't then they may all disappear by day's end. I will have to delegate the Twizzlers, if I can stay ahead of Aaron on that. And I will think of the blessings of life with Aaron on this day............not that he had to go to the lab, which is a stark reminder of his Epilepsy and of seizures............but that he actually enjoys the lab and that he loves a simple trip to Wal-Mart and that he's not embarrassed to be seen with his mom. And that I actually had a moment where I was not embarrassed by something Aaron said but was PROUD!!!
Little does Aaron know how many times I say to myself, "Can I do something for Aaron? I love him!"
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