A Special Gift

When Madison was a baby she was like a dream. She was so happy and smiley- and she drew people in with her sweet spirit. She has never been afraid of people. Actually quite the opposite could be said of her. She seeks out others, showers them with affection and wins over everyone she meets.

EXCEPT- when she is at home, and in a mood- which seems to be quite often. Abby might be hyper and impulsive, Chase can be stubborn and sensitvie, but Madi...oh Madi, she takes the cake when it comes to sassiness.

That's why I am so grateful for the experience I had with her at her school last week. The kids all had doctor's appointments in the morning so I was taking Madi to school late. We checked her in at the office, she was happily chatting with the office staff, talking about her flu shot and other activities of the morning. She was delightful, and it's always heart warming to see people react to her. As we made our way down to her classroom we passed by one of the other classrooms where the children were coming out of the room and walking to another building to use the bathroom.

Now, Madison is in a Special Day class (a self-contained special education class) for children with mild to moderate disabilities. Her school also has Special day classes for moderately to severely disabled children, as well as a county program for the more severely disabled children.

The classroom that we passed was one of the classes for children with moderate to severe disabilities. There were children in wheel chairs, children who couldn't speak, children who were making loud noises. I saw them coming out the their classroom and smiled at the teachers and continued walking to get Madi to her class.

Madison, however, just lit up when she saw these kids. She smiled her sweet smile and went directly to a girl in a wheel chair. She called her by name, put her hand on her shoulder and asked, "How are you doing today..." The girl did not respond, or even look up at Madi- her caregiver explained that the girl was tired today. That did not deter Madi, she just smiled and said, "Have a nice day, " and moved on to the next child.

I was so impressed that my little Madison, knew every. single. child. in that class. She knew their names and she clearly cared for them. My little Madison, with disabilities and challenges of her own, knows how to love. She is a valiant defender of the underdog and anyone who is sad or lonely. She has a natural gift to lift people's spirits and bring them happiness.

I am always impressed with Madison's ability to reach out to others. She seems to have no awareness of her own disabilities, which is a real blessing. But, even if she was aware, I'm not sure it would make any difference to her.

She is certainly giving us a run for our money at home with the talking back and attitude, but we are lucky to have such an incredible, sweet, sassy, firey, and loving little red head in our family.

We love you Madison Ann!