Skip to main content

Paying it Forward

Today, I was doing a little grocery shopping at one of the stores here in town.  I had a medium amount of items in my cart and was waiting for the gentleman ahead of me to finish checking out.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an elderly woman with about three items in her cart come up behind me.  I told her to go ahead of me since she only had a few items.  She seemed a little flustered and was telling me her kitty was out in her car. I guess she was hoping to stop briefly in the store, get what she needed and get out quickly. While we were waiting in line, she looked down into my cart and noticed I had some reduced yellow and orange peppers.  She was asking me if there were more and where they were in the store.  I told her they had plenty and they were in the back of the store.  I decided that it was easier for me to get out of line and get another bag of peppers, so I let her have mine.  I said, "I have my tennis shoes on and could use the exercise!" I have let people go in front of me before at the store, but I don't know if I've ever taken something out of my cart and given it to somebody.  My parents are older and I would hope that at their store where they shop at, that somebody would do something like that for them.  Back before I had a cell phone, I got a flat tire and had to pull off the side of the road.  I tried to flag a police car down, but none were stopping. After a little while, a truck stopped behind my car and a couple of guys got out.  They said they could change my tire for me. I let them do it and offered to pay them. They refused to take my money and their response back to me was, "we wouldn't want our wives out here and we would hope somebody would help them if they needed it."  I never got their names, but I was so grateful to them!!  Dominic has the same bus driver for both the morning and afternoon.  He is so nice, always has a smile on his face and most importantly, is never late!!  It definitely takes a special person to drive a bus for special needs children.  Since the beginning of the school year, I have been baking him muffins, breads or cookies and giving them to him at random times.  He is SO appreciative!!  Teachers get gifts from students, but I think sometimes the bus drivers get overlooked.  I feel like it's a small token of my appreciation to him for transporting Dominic to and from school every day :)  When you see someone in a wheelchair, offer to open up the door.  If a mom is struggling with crying/screaming kids behind you at the library, let them go ahead of you.  I wish someone would have done that for me in those early years with Dominic!  When life gets busy and chaotic, take the time to slow down for just a minute or two and find ways to "pay it forward."  It will make you feel really good inside :)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Those "Steps" to Independence Can Be Hard

We are heading towards 600 orders for Dominic's business. Since our long-term goal for Baked Goods By Dominic is having a "brick-and-mortar" and hire those with disabilities, it is essential and imperative that I continue to teach him all parts of the business. Since I prompted Dominic for so many years for speech, he has become "prompt dependent." What that essentially means is that he will look at me for a prompt, like, "what do you do next?" I do that one a lot. Dominic has been going to a private speech therapist for over ten years and she reminds me often that Dominic usually will know the answer, if I am patient and wait for him. That has been a very hard habit to break! Dominic has an incredible memory, so I put it to the test this morning. I didn't write out the steps, I wanted to see how much he could do completely on his own. We have a customer picking up his order today, but the only thing that had been done is putting the cookies into t...

Why We Pursued Guardianship of our Son with Autism

Last Thursday morning, my husband, Dominic and I went to our county's Probate Court and had Dominic's Guardianship Hearing. My husband and I are Co-Guardians, and we were granted "Partial Guardianship," which means Dominic can make some of his own decisions (future educational and vocational placement options, what to wear and how he wants to spend his free time), but my husband and I will make his medical, health care, legal, contractual and major financial decisions. The subject of Guardianship in the disability "world" has been and continues to be a controversial and divisive topic.  I was a panelist for an Autism Conference this past summer and presented on what it's like to have a child with Autism. Towards the end of my presentation, I mentioned that Dominic had just turned 18 and that we were going through the Guardianship process. When the attendees could ask questions, the first person that went up to the microphone started telling me that I was...

Finding the Right "Reward"

During the 2023-2024 school year, I would ask Dominic if he would like to read a book from time-to-time. The answer was always a "no." I didn't want to put any pressure on him, since he got on the bus about 7:20 a.m. and didn't get home from school until close to 3 p.m. He also had art therapy, speech therapy and music therapy! This summer, I tried a different approach. The Capital Area District Library System has a summer reading program. You could log in reading times online, but with Dominic being such a "visual" learner, I opted to print out the sheet. We also worked with his private speech therapist to have him ask me, "Mommy, can we read a book?" He would have to do that first, me not ask him.  The sheet from the library had two sets of circles that you could check off or put an "x" on. Each one had 30 circles, for a total of 60 circles. Each "circle" represents 20 minutes of reading. When he reached 30 circles, I told him...