Ok, so when COVID shut down the world in 2020, we found Elizabeth at home again.

Home:

From her college program

From her internships

From her job training

Home

But we took the lockdown and made a schedule to keep her busy, productive and occupied.( insert smile face here)

Time passed and we began to change things for her again. Sort of revamping the schedule and changing the goals to HER goals. Her special needs challenge any new skills. Her global Dyspraxia and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) make each day hard work. But,

We worked on many skills of life because we had the time to do it.

We worked on her art skills for the same reason.

I have to say that COVID was the chance to just BE with Elizabeth. Something that I know doesn’t happen alot as there is always something we need to do, should be doing, should be teaching, should be reinforcing, someplace we have to be, some therapist we need to see and on and on.

But I got the chance to just BE

And it was a gift.

We are now, what?, 18 months into this thing and I thought about that today as she and I were walking at 7:45 this morning. We must have walked more miles together in this time frame than in the entirety of her life.

And that too, has been a gift.

I am grateful for the person she is and the gentle ways she possesses even thought at times, she makes me feel more things than peace, like when she pretends not to know where something is just to let me know she didn’t want to get it for me in the first place.

Or when she says “SORRY” in a very sarcastic manner to let me know that she means anything besides the feeling of sorry.

Or when she absentmindedly answers “Yes, I understand!” over and over again as I talk letting me know she is totally not listening to me at all.

But the thing in all this is that we did work on skills, and kept them up as well as added new ones. And the world opened up for Elizabeth again.

And now her world is opening up more because she got hired officially by her second part time job! She has been doing her internship working with Gymsters, a physical fitness program for preschool and school aged children both special education and typical.

She loves it and now is officially working for them!

Proud?

You bet and so is she.

This week she started working with her first official day being Tuesday.

So she is working 4 days a week now. 2 days here and 2 at her catering job.

And I am happy to see her resume her life, in a new and improved way, that she left back in March of 2020.

Just wanted to share a bit of happy in a world that has so much going on.

I wish everyone a peaceful week and please wear a mask.

Michele Gianetti author of “Elizabeth Believes In Herself”

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