Boo Bear and I had a great day on Saturday. We were eating breakfast when there came a knock at the door. I vaguely recognized the woman on my porch and then realized that she was Erin Murphy, our representative! I have voted for and supported her for the last decade. Ten years ago, Boo Bear eloped and got loose in the neighborhood. As I was running out the door I was met by a lady delivering political leaflets. She said, “Hi, my name is Erin Murphy and I am running to be your representative.” “Hi”, I replied. “My name is Harriet Herndon and my seven year old with autism just took off.” Immediately, Erin jumped into action. She said she was an emergency room nurse and familiar with spectrum kids. She put down all her papers and she and I went up and down the street, calling for Boo and banging on doors until we found him. Whew! I have been her proud supporter ever since. I mentioned this memory to her last Saturday and her face lit up. “I remember that day! How is he doing now?” I told her he was doing fine and would graduate high school in May. She gave her congratulations and said that she is now running to be a senator. I told her this was great news and she absolutely had votes from Robert and myself. She asked if we were receiving enough services for Boo. I said that we were very blessed to live in St. Paul, and very grateful for the services which Boo receives. I said that services are not easy to come by, one has to be a good advocate, but St. Paul is a great place to live. She was happy to hear this and continued on her way.
Breakfast over, Boo and I met up with A and went to Ran Ham bowling. We got Mr. Boo a big plate of fries and let him roll balls to his hearts content. He was so happy, grinning ear to ear and giggling to himself. The MN football game was playing on the big screen and the Gophers were happily defeating Penn State. Ravi’s game and the football game ended at about the same time, amid cheers from all of the fans, some more inebriated than others. It was a perfect afternoon. We also learned that Boo has a weakness for Ranch dressing and will do shots of it when given the chance. Who knew?
So, this is just a snapshot of our weekend, a brief respite of fun before a very busy week. Boo has his final IEP meeting of his high school career tomorrow. We will be talking about graduation, transition, guardianship, and a whole host of other issues. Serious stuff. Adult stuff. But in the back of my mind I hold a mental snapshot of my son, bowling, eating French fries, and having the time of his life.
Harriet's Hedgehogs and Autism Advocacy 