Autism Awareness Month Day 8 – My heartbeats

Before work I had to take JJ to a medical appointment so was up and out early. All the way there I could hear JJ talking to himself preparing for what he will face. This only happened because he had one bad experience with a staff member who clearly didn’t read the notes on the screen about his condition or has limited awareness of it that she was grilling him unnecessarily brought about high levels of anxiety which caused him to have a panic attack. Oh don’t worry I took them on and rectified it thereafter. Although we have had 5* exceptional  treatment ever since he still dreads seeing that particular staff member and we don’t know beforehand if it will be them or not.
We were in the waiting room and I could see the anxiety building up so I made jokes to relax him. When he was called he walked into the room and looked round at me like phew! He didn’t have the person that made him feel that way. I had a big smile of my face too as I can’t bear to see him like that but no amount of talking changes the way he feels. It’s really sad because I’m sure the person is very good at their job but he doesn’t want to face her again. However, I suspect they would much like to avoid seeing me again too lol. Well… if you are going to mess with mine and show lack of awareness, i’m going to have to teach you!

They confirmed that treatment should end within the next six weeks as he has done really well. He was really happy about that and frankly so was I. One more battle we have conquered. On the way back to the car I saw a fruit stall and was about to move towards it but JJ pretty much pushed me to the other side of the pavement saying “No don’t!” I was a little confused but then he explained that the man isn’t wearing gloves so is touching the fruit with his bare hands so there’s no way he’s going let me buy fruit there cos none of them will eat it. He must have clocked the stool on the way there as the man’s hands were not visible when we were approaching the stall this time. He must have already had the conversation in his head that we will never buy fruit there.

I tried to explain that I will wash the fruit thoroughly when we get home and those that pick the fruit from the trees might not wear gloves either but JJ wasn’t having any of it. He was adamant that the this man should be wearing plastic gloves before touching his food. I was too tired to get into a debate about and respected JJ’s feedback and walked on to the supermarket to pay slightly more for the same fruit. Oh my life!
I went to work dealt with lots of pressing issues and then couldn’t wait for the day to end as we were having a visit from our other children (my step children) and grandbabies. I haven’t seen them for a while so I was so excited. They don’t live locally so it’s a full days mission to get to each other and besides Nae-Nae isn’t fond of long journeys unless it includes a trip to Granny’s garden aka the cemetery so I don’t pressure her to go often. It’s funny, that Nae-Nae will say no to travelling far to most places but when I tell her we are visiting my late mum’s grave she is out the door before I get to 1,2,3. She loves cleaning the grave stone and renewing the flowers but what she loves most of all is walking around the cemetery reading the names of the deceased and looking at dates of birth and dates of death. It’s weird but she has pointed out to me certain patterns between dates of birth and deaths of those she’s seen. It’s a little bit freaky but I refrain from asking her too much because I don’t know if I’m ready for what she might have to tell me lol.
We all had a lovely meal together with lots of chat and laughter. It’s been a tough year for us all with the loss of our boy, the children’s brother and uncle to the grandbabies, so it was good to have them together and smiling especially MrJK. I did orchestrate the get together so I was very pleased it all came together beautifully. They also blessed me with gifts although it’s not my birthday, I was really touched by that.
Nae-Nae had taken a selfie with one of her sisters about 5 months ago with a particular pose and because her other sister wasn’t there she wanted to take a selfie with that sister and she remembered the exact pose. Her memory is amazing. Then she got all three of them to pose together with some awesome faces. It was hilarious and absolutely wonderful. They are all stunning girls and I’m not just being bias. Their bone structures and features are amazingly beautiful.
JJ and his nephew are very similar in personally, condition and everything so they really gel together amazingly well. They could hang out for hours together and not get bored of each other’s company. They have verbal communication when they want but still know what the other is saying through their silence. It’s just wonderful. Their company was a beautiful end to a busy week. I was gutted that I forgot to even give them some of Nae-Nae’s birthday cake. And no I didn’t do that on purpose so there will be more cake for me… No I didn’t I promise..! However I ended the day with some lovely tea my step daughter bought me with a big chunk of cake!

Peace and Love

MrsJK