This weekend we had a perfect moment with Moise. It was a an hour of so much happy that my heart could barely contain it all.
It was the weekend that the carnival came to town, the annual Tremont Turkey Festival. For most, the Turkey Festival is one of those good and bad events.
It's so bad! It's almost unfailingly hot, humid and sticky. There are some years, like this year, where the rains come, turning an entire section of town into a muddy, sloppy mess. For those of us who volunteer, it sucks up an entire weekend's time and energy. There are usually at least one pair of shoes that will never be the same after the festival. The smell of smoked turkey, corn dogs and funnel cake adheres itself to clothes, hair and nasal passages. In so many ways, it's truly miserable.
But it's so good! It's great food and fun, laughter and meeting up with friends. Most of all, it's a perfect display of community, as hundreds of people from our little town come together in volunteer effort to benefit our town. We feed and entertain thousands over the course of three days with 34,000 pounds of turkey. Truly remarkable.
Moise adores the Turkey Festival. Jim, forgetting about the festival, had originally scheduled a Thursday evening business meeting with one of our perspective homeowners. He had bid on a new home and this meeting would hopefully seal the deal. When he remembered it was opening night of the festival he called to reschedule saying, "it's the best night of the year for my son and I can't miss it."
Moise's glee was so great, when he learned he was going on the carnival rides, that he could hardly stay in his wheelchair.
There are no words to describe the feeling that fills my heart when something so simple makes him so unbelievably happy. Moments like this make me so grateful that Jim and I get to be his parents. There is no question that life would be simpler if Moise didn't face so many challenges, but I think that if that were the case, the perfect moments would often go unnoticed.
Patience is not one of Moise's greatest virtues but he waited so patiently to ride the rides, clinging to his Dad's hand. He knew that his Dad would tackle the strenuous feat of getting him on the rides.
He's got a special dad and he knows it. What he doesn't know is just how hard it is for Dad to get him on those rides.
Moise is fearless on the rides. Neither Jim nor I will get on them but we have great friends who are always willing to ride with Moise. His pleasure is obvious as we watch from the sidelines. I can only imagine the sense of freedom he feels as he flies through the air. This one night of every year, he doesn't need to see or hear or walk to feel the rush of pleasure that the rides bring. For this one night, I believe that being Moise is far greater than being a typical 14 year old.
After putting him on the last ride of the evening Jim leaned close and told me "This is his last year of rides. I won't be able to get him on next year." The words were only confirmation, I could clearly see the struggle each time Jim carried him to the rides. At 112 pounds, Moise's body is large and heavy, his palsied legs cumbersome and awkward. He grows bigger by the day, it seems. Next year the effort involved in bringing him so much joy will be physically and logistically impossible. I pushed the painfully obvious truth aside. We'll deal with next year when next year comes. I etched a picture of this, his greatest joy into the pages of my mind. I never want to forget this perfect moment in my little boys' life.
Kruz was rather apathetic about riding the merry go round. He didn't resist it, but neither was he elated by it.
He was perfectly content watching and carefully taking in the carnival atmosphere around him. Perhaps his own love for rides will come in time but if not we'll find whatever it is that brings him greatest joy. For now, I (his mommy) am his greatest joy. He and I have our own perfect moment every night as we read stories and sing songs together before bed. I'm soaking up every single one of those moments for I am keenly aware that nothing so perfect lasts forever.
Kruz wanted nothing to do with the sugary puff of cotton candy. On the other hand Moise, after testing it a few times with the tip of his tongue, dove right into it.
Life is filled with joy and sorrow. The more life I live the more I realize that the most perfect moments require the presence of both, the good and the bad times.
We wouldn't appreciate the sunshine as much if we never had rain.
God is good, all the time
No comments:
Post a Comment