Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Oh. my.

It has become my yearly tradition to post the first week of solid rainclouds in my weather widget. I did it last year and was amazed that it was happening a full two weeks earlier than the year before...This year it is exactly ONE MONTH ahead of schedule. I'm going to need to grow some gills I think.

And now onto the real topic of today's post, that I am burying under the guise of a weather widget, to avoid embarrassment--not mine, but #3 child...but I am just so proud of him that I can't help but tell his story.

A little backstory first: Cooper takes Japanese. Last year, in Japanese 1, he told me that there is a little Japanese girl in his class who has Down's Syndrome--and apparently she developed quite a little crush on Cooper. ('Who wouldn't?' those of you who know Cooper are asking yourselves. Well prepare for some serious heartmelt.) The crush kinda went full-bore by the end of the school year, to the point that she began racing to class in order to be able to open the door for Cooper when he came to class every day...and this year is no exception. She has been opening the door daily this year as well, and apparently yesterday, wrote all over her arm 'I love Cooper.'
Today, I get a text from Cooper:
I'm about to cry. ;( a**ko wrote me a note and asked me to go to lunch with her

'Oh no,' says I. (We have bantered about with Cooper over this whole thing, Chloe and her cronies think it would be cute for him to ask her to homecoming, but ultimately we came to the conclusion that regardless of her 'status', she is a human being with a heart that can still break, and I do not want him to inadvertently give her the wrong impression.) He was unable to talk about it at the time, so I said we'd help him with some strategies when he got home. When he got home, he showed me the following note:
Dear Cooper, Do you want to have lunch with me? I was alone without someone to be with. I am so shy sometimes, but it is time for me not to be so shy. It's my time to learn to talk to boys.


{insert melting heart here.}

Poor Cooper absolutely gets this. He is so concerned about not breaking her little heart, and says she is so cute he can hardly stand it. Our suggestion to him was that he tell her right up front that he cannot always have lunch with her, but that sometimes he could walk with her to her lunch table (she eats with the rest of the 'D1' kids.) I also suggested to him that perhaps he could take a photo with her, and we could print it for her and he could write on it 'From your friend, Cooper'

My favorite part of this whole experience is that Cooper is trying so hard to be careful of this little girls' heart. I am so so proud of the way he is being so gentle with her. My second favorite thing is that SHE picked MY son to love. The girl's got taste. :)

2 comments:

  1. First of all, good for Cooper for watching out for this girl, of all girls. Second, are you saying perhaps a move from the Central Coast to Oregon may NOT be the thing to do? We don't mind rain, but my gills have LONG since dried up!

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  2. Most definitely NOT! In fact, I should work for the Oregon Don't-be-a-tourist-move-here board! We love it...the rain keeps everything fresh and green!

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