Connection

Yesterday I was shown a video of Emma with one of her classmates, Charlie.  Each year Emma has had someone she particularly likes.  Someone she will talk about and want to sit next to.  Last year it was an adorable little boy named Justus, the year before it was Ben.  This year it is Charlie.  Charlie doesn’t have much language, but they connect on another level.  In the video Emma and Charlie are hugging each other and Emma is doing something with him that I have only seen her do with her older brother, Nic.  She is running her fingers through his hair while laughing.  The two of them are so adorable with Charlie beaming and Emma laughing, the two of them hugging each other and then Emma puts her hands on his shoulders, while maintaining eye contact she bends from side to side and bops her head up and down.  Charlie follows her lead and they laugh while doing a kind of dance together; watching it made me cry.  Something so simple.  Something seemingly so small.  Two children laughing together.  Two children connecting with each other.  For me it was akin to receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

For more on Emma’s journey through a childhood of autism, go to:   www.Emma’s Hope Book.com