From the Wolf Den, and the Heart

I didn't put 'aspergers' or 'behavioral health' as a label for this post, because it's not about that today.

After a shaky start to our trip down south Bear and I left Anchorage this morning to meet up with Yukon in SLC. Although the issues of the past few days have put a damper on most of our plans, our family and CHYC staff did indeed regroup. Therapist C, in covering for Therapist B (yes, I do have an entire alphabet soup of inititals for everybody involved) helped us find a workable plan with enough flexibility built in to accommodate both boys and hopefully our sanity.

But you all want to know about The Reunion. We had prepared Bear as much as we could for the changes in Wolf, but the five-year-old mind is easily distracted and even easier prone to lapses in reality. We really didn't know what to expect from him. On the other side of the coin was Wolf, whose social skills are almost equal to his younger sibling. Yukon spent some time prepping last night for how to meet and greet a small child and some ideas for engaging Bear through their similar interests.

I cannot tell you how proud we were of our oldest son tonight. After the wretchedness of the past 24 hours and a rough beginning this morning, Wolf pulled himself together for Bear. When brought out to greet us in the lobby, he remembered guidance from Dad, got down on his knees, and waited.

Bear was squirrely, anxious, and slightly goofy until Wolf came through the door. Clinging to me, he inched his way closer and closer, not sure, I think, of this lanky almost-stranger. Yukon saw their apprehension and grabbed a boy in each arm and let them to the sofa, where Bear couldn't take his eyes off big brother.

Wolf had brought some toy cars for Bear, encased inside a little box he had decorated with tissue paper and glue; a mosaic of color and style only my kid could create.

It was a good metaphor for our day.

Slightly off-center, colorful, sort of sticky. But ultimately containing a treasure inside.