Wolf in the World

Finally earning a visit pass after much hard work on everyone's part, Wolf joined me "in the world" this afternoon.

I wish I could have captured the visible joy in his voice as we walked through the double doors of CHYC and across the grass to the car. "I'm out here, I'm out here!"

We so carefully crafted this outing, Wolf's therapist, Unit Director, and I. Aware that anxiety would probably threaten to take over and sabatoge Wolf's afternoon, we had a huddle pre-departure to talk over with Wolf just what would be expected of him.

I was a bit apprehensive, too. It's been a year since we stared at each other face to face across the table at a restaurant, or sat next to each other in a car, or went shopping for shoes. Strange that I was so worried about how to communicate with my kid; stranger still such a thought even entered my head.

To our surprise, the afternoon flew by with little fanfare. We lunched at Applebee's, shopped for shoes and clothes, and ended up at Target so Wolf could spend a little of his cash on some Matchbox cars. With about an hour to spare, Wolf and I retreated to a local park for some lounging.

We lay on the grass, enjoying the feel of the late afternoon breeze. Time turned backwards to another place and another time. "You have no idea how good this feels," Wolf said.

Yeah, I think I do.