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On Sunday night my family and I caught a show at the theater. We sat as a family of four, Jess, Katie, Brooke and I, listening to actors sing and dance as they told their story over the course of almost 3 hours. Nothing particularly unusual about that. Actually, it was a dress rehearsal of the musical Godspell being put on by a local theater. For the background on this, please take a moment to read —>>>this.<<<—
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The bottom line is that we were able to sit through an entire show…as a family. Little Brooke watched, completely rapt. After every song she would clap or make her little Jesus doll clap. For three hours on Sunday night, life felt blissfully typical. For three hours, autism took a back seat to Jesus, John the Baptist and the rest of the “Godspell workers”.
Jesus and Brooke
After the show, Jesus came down and handed Brooke a mini-poster of the show signed by members of the cast. She introduced him to his mini-me.
It was a gift. A blessing. A glimpse into a different world from the one we know.
Interestingly enough, despite the fact that Jess and I sat not two feet apart from each other throughout the show, our experiences were dramatically different though both incredibly positive. She did a much better job describing our magical evening —>>>here.<—
This week I have a lot to be thankful for, but I am especially thankful to my Jess for making this evening possible. That we were able to experience this little piece of heaven, this little piece of what I imagined part of parenthood would be like, was all on her and the kind, wonderful people at the theater who let us come into their rehearsal and have our own show.
We have tickets for this coming Sunday with a live audience, but for now, I’ll take this private performance for our little family.
***For those curious why Brooke’s “Jesus” doll looks like that, here’s a picture of Jesus from the movie Godspell:
Run Luau Run 
That sounds like an amazing experience with the family!
Momements like these help keep us humbled and focused on all we have to be thankful for….thank you for sharing this with us.
Beauty!!!
Brooke is so pretty. Enjoy the show on Sunday!!!
Awesome! So glad that the theater was able to make that happen for Brooke!
Doug – theater people are almost as incredible as runners! 😉
It blows me away! I know exactly how you feel, whenever Sophie sits and watches her movies for one or 2 hours, just heavenly 🙂 Your baby is adorable BTW, Hugs!! 🙂
Thanks Gaby!
I can relate–Over the summer we went to a Pizzaria Uno with the kids. My son is 13 and autistic, my daughter is 7 and typically-developing. We NEVER go to restaurants because my son doesn’t like them–too crowded, too noisy, picky eater, etc. Well, we decided to try it–He sat in the booth, waited patiently for his pizza, ate well, and waited for the rest of us. We looked at each other and said ‘Oh My God, we’re out, having dinner as a family!’ It was such a great dinner because we were able to do it together. I thank my son for that and I’m soo happy that autism took a back seat that night. Since then, we’ve been able to go out more often! (though, yes, we do pick pizza places [his fave]–don’t want to press our luck too much!)
Sandra I can relate, I too have a child with a diagnosis and have always said that I wanted us to go to a pizzaria as a family just like every other family! We can now, but many years we couldn’t, so I am happy for you all. WTG Sandra:)
I remember the first time we were able to sit through a dinner out as a family, it was wonderful. There’s been a little regression in that department as of late, but I know we’ll get back to that point.
Sheila–Thank you so much! Happy Thanksgiving!
I often wonder what it’s like to live in a “real” family. On the rare occasion when things go right, I hear in my head “So this is the way it’s supposed to be”… Thanks for sharing your experience.
“So this is the way it’s supposed to be” – this is thought that went through my head Sunday night, almost verbatim!
Oh Luau, your wife has inspired me to contact our local theater company and ask if Aidan can meet the cast of the Wizard of Oz (his Godspell) when it comes to CT in March.
Typical happens Luau, as well as remission/recovery, and I will coninue to say prayers for all you .
Happy happy happy for all of you and for Brooke, WOW:)
I hope Aiden’s experience is like Brooke’s.
I am so glad that you had the experience of typical. I think my husband and I would probably see it pretty much the way you and Jess did, too. LOL
No matter how much you say it’s all Jess’ doing, I know that it wouldn’t have been possible without the love and unflagging support you give Jess and your girls. YOU make it possible for Jess to have the space to make the magic happen. YOU ground her in so many ways. (What? You know she writes about all this stuff!)
So, please make sure you allow your own light to shine from under that bushel, ok? Your being there is, I have no doubt, what completed the magic. FAMILY. TOGETHER.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you for that!
You and your wife were so totally, and perfectly picked by God to be parents for that beautiful precious gift of a girl. Bless you all. Press on!
chuck, that was absolutely beautiful thank you!
jess (mrs luau)
Beautiful. Calm, peaceful Brooke. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Christy!
Thank you for sharing this beautiful family experience with us!
I have grown to love your family. Truly gail
Thanks Gail!