To the Family Waiting in Line for Santa Next to My Special Needs Family

I’ve seen a lot on the Internet lately about the understanding Santa Claus who played on the floor with a child with autism. I’m sure the little boy’s parents were beyond thankful for what Santa Claus did for their child. As a fellow autism parent, I’m grateful for that outstanding Santa Claus.

I don’t have a story about an understanding Santa, but I do have a story about some understanding people. Yesterday was the first time a stranger help me out in this way. It was the first time that not everyone was staring at me in disgust. I actually had some “angels” nearby who helped me when I needed it the most.

After church on Sunday, I took the boys to see Santa Claus at the mall. I walked hand in hand with my oldest son, Trenton, sweating bullets in anticipation of not knowing how it would go. My parents were walking with my youngest son, Andrew, so my focus was on Trenton.

I was so proud of the way he walked hand in hand in the mall with me right to the Santa Claus line. Unfortunately, we were about 30 seconds late of being able to walk right up to Santa Claus. I just wanted to scream, “No, please stop. Let us go first,” as I watched two other families beat me to the head of the line.

Just as I expected, Trenton was not going to wait. He kept pulling his body away from me, making his upset noises, throwing himself down on the ground, kicking and trying to grab everything in sight. His noises grew louder and louder. I didn’t focus on anyone around me other than Trenton. I took Trenton out of the line while my mother stood in line holding our spot. Within seconds, the people in front of us said that we could go ahead of them. What? Someone actually understands and is not judging me.

“Thank you! Thank you!” I kept saying over and over. Never before in my life did I want to hug and kiss complete strangers.

“Oh thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me. He has severe autism and can’t help it,” I said.

One lady looked at me with empathetic eyes and said, “Trust me, honey. I completely understand.”

Trenton sat on Santa’s lap, and I did get a picture of the boys with Santa. However, what happened after they sat on Santa’s lap got everyone’s attention in the mall. Trenton wanted the animal the photographer was holding to get the children to look at the camera. We caused a scene. I can’t even begin to describe what happened but it happened. My purse flew off my shoulder and all of the items in it dumped out while I trying to handle Trenton. I ended up having to pick him up and carry him out parallel to the ground with kicking legs and swinging arms. I think everyone could hear his noises, cries and screams bouncing off the walls in the mall. Thank goodness for my mom, who was picking up the pieces after us such as his shoes, toys, etc.

After getting in the van and strapping Trenton into his car seat, he continued to fuss and cry. I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Was that even worth it?”

Well, the answer is yes. Yes, it was worth it. The smile on his face walking into the mall was priceless. It was more than worth it.

To the family who let us go ahead of them, thank you. You will never know how much that meant to me. Your act of kindness and empathy was exactly what I needed. It’s not easy taking a child with a severe hidden disability out in public. For once in my life, we had someone help us and not judge us. Thank you, thank you! You gave me the best Christmas gift I will get this season. I wish I knew who you were and where you lived because I would love to bring you a gift to show you my appreciation.

Follow this journey on Two Brothers, One Journey.

The Mighty is asking the following: Write a letter to a stranger or someone you don’t know well who showed you incredible love during the holiday season. If you’d like to participate, please send a blog post to community@themighty.com Please include a photo for the piece, a photo of yourself and 1-2 sentence bio. Check out our Submit a Story page for more about our submission guidelines.