Why I Don't Mind Having One Less Band-Aid

Last Friday afternoon, shortly before my son, Dominic, was due to come home on the bus, I popped into my local Kroger to pick up a handful of items for the weekend. As I was putting the last of my things onto the conveyor belt, I overheard the gentleman who was bagging my groceries say to the clerk next to him, “Can you get me a Band-Aid?”

She answered back, “OK, I’ll get you one in a minute.”

He started to get upset that he didn’t have one. Since I was running late, I guess I could have just finished bagging my own groceries and gotten out of there, but that’s not my style. I always have at least one Band-Aid on hand at all times, so I pulled one out of my purse and said, “Do you want this one?”

He seemed relieved and said, “Yes, could you put it on my finger?”

I love the fact that my local Kroger has hired a handful of individuals with special needs. As I finished putting the Band-Aid on his finger, he told the clerk, “We should buy her a candy bar!” I told him, “No, that’s OK.” The clerk was telling me that the bagger has to ride a bus to get to work by himself.

As I walked to the car and loaded in my groceries, I had a flash-forward moment to about eight years from now, when Dominic will be 18, an adult. It’s so hard to predict the future for him. There was a time when I didn’t think Dominic would ever be potty trained. But yesterday, I was ready to have a party because he said, “I have to go potty!” I’ve been having to prompt him to go every two hours, so him telling me he had to go was a huge step for him. I feel like every day we take a few more steps towards him being more independent. I think about his future more and more as he gets older.

Will he go to college? Get his driver’s license? Have a job? Live on his own? One thing I’ve learned as I get older is you can’t assume anything in life. I’m sure my bagging buddy has a mom out there. I know I will never probably meet her, but I hope she knows what a sweet and awesome son she has and how proud she should be of him. Who knows, maybe one day she’ll be shopping at that Kroger and Dominic will be bagging her groceries and he’ll need a Band-Aid.

This post originally appeared on bountifulplate.

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