Friday, March 30, 2018

Progress

This won't sound like a big deal to anyone, but it's a big deal to me...

Yesterday was a work day for Sam, and on work days, Sam takes the ADA bus - both to and from work. When Sam gets home, he calls me to check in, almost always at the same time, every day.

But not yesterday.

Yesterday, the time for his usual phone call came and went - and when it got to be a good forty minutes or so later, I called home to see how he was doing. No answer. Hmm. That's unusual, but maybe he was busy washing his hands.

I waited a minute or so, and then I texted his phone, asking him if he was still on the bus. Here’s the conversation…


If this had been, not even a year ago, Sam wouldn't have known what to do - and his anxiety would have overwhelmed him. But today, he not only kept it in check, he did exactly the right thing - he took it upon himself to call the bus company to see what was happening. I couldn't believe it.

A few minutes later, when he got home, he called me and I told him how proud I was of him.

And I told him again at dinner.

"Yeah," he said, "but I was feeling pretty concerned."

I didn't tell him that I was, too.

But I did tell him that anyone in the same position, including me, would have been concerned. And I told him (once again,) that it's not just the feelings that matter, what matters is what you do with those feelings. And what he did was perfect.

I'm thrilled.