Goodbye Jason

Today was the last day of summer school. It is a mixed blessing for me. Of course, I am thrilled to no end it's over...I'm exhausted and tired. On the other hand, I sort of got attached to many of the kiddos...especially Jason.

Let me explain. Jason is autistic and I first met him when he was in Maggie's kindergarten class. He walked right up to me and licked my arm! Wow...who are you? I quickly found out that Jason is a very smart and loving child...just as all children are. I got to know Jason over the years and he quickly became a favorite with many of the teachers on campus. The kids appear to be protective and supportive of Jason and all that he does. I was a bit nervous when I found out he would be in my summer school class.

Jason knows a lot. He can tell me what he likes and doesn't like...he can be very opinionated and brutally honest. He can also have a political conversation. He is a Democrat and very pro Obama but says his parents are Republicans! Sadly, he doesn't do any work in class and his mother makes him do it all at home. The only work he somewhat completes every once in a while is writing in his journal. The other day he told me his wish for himself is to have a friend, his wish for our school is to have a big slide, his wish for our city is to be clean and his wish for the world would be no more earthquakes. Very insightful.

Anyway, about a week ago he got stuck on the phrase, "I like hearts." I think he said it a hundred times. He pulled some scraps of colored tissue paper from our recycle box and started cutting. I didn't say anything because he was busy and I had a lot to do with the other kids. After a day of this I looked more closely and noticed his cutting mania was actually hundreds of hearts of all sizes...perfect hearts!

You know what a heart lover I am...especially unexpected ones. I hated to see his hearts get thrown away. He put so much heart into his project! They were scattered everywhere. Maggie glued a lot of them onto a poster board with his picture on it with a note from me on back. I presented it to Jason and the children gave Jason a standing ovation! He was so proud of his hard work and he felt appreciated.

Jason will be going to a new school next year. A special school. I will miss him as will everyone else. I heart you Jason.