MEETING GEORGE

The day was a long one. Traveling three and a half hours on the road, checking in, going to a meeting from 4:30 to 5:45, attending a long winded dinner, of applauding, standing ovations and more applauding, back to a meeting until 10:00 PM, and capping it off with a reception for an Executive Director, that would last until 12:30 PM.

I was an early arrival to the reception, hoping to get a drink and just to unwind without conversation, and let my mind feel free to drift to thoughts of home and other pleasant things. As I sat there, a voice called out; “You look tired.” I looked up and there was a gentleman sitting alone as I was, at another table halfway across the room. He repeated himself, and I was unsure if he was talking to me. I looked at him and pointed to myself, and he shook his head. “Yup, you look tired, had a long day?” Slowly rising from my chair, I drifted over to his table and sat across from him. “Yes” I said, relating it all to him. I recognized him as one of the speakers at the meeting earlier. Being a man of about mid thirties, he was very serious in his demeanor, and looked like he had very little to smile about.

We chitchatted a bit, and asked each other the usual questions one would ask when meeting a stranger. His name was George, and offered no last name.

My colleagues started to arrive one-by-one, filling all the tables, while those from my agency joined me, and the night continued without incident. George however, was getting a lot of attention, suddenly becoming surrounded by very pretty young ladies, who took almost personal possession of George, and good old George loved every minute of it. Me on the other hand had Fred, Ken and Jim to talk to, and frankly, I didn’t think they could offer up enough attention to not want to go and join George. I must say though, at this point TLW (The Little Woman) kept appearing like a vision, reminding me that she is all I need, so George had to do for himself, while I took comfort in the fact that Fred, Ken and Jim were going to be my center of attention for the evening.

As the evening ended and we all started to drift back to our rooms, George was seen being escorted out arm-in-arm by two gorgeous young women. With his slow shuffle and unsteady gait, he walked by me and said: “Good night, Joe” and gave me a wave.

Why I tell you this is? Because; George has Downe Syndrome. On that day he: got up in front of over 400 people in a delegate assembly to speak, introduced himself to a stranger, made a new friend, attended a formal cocktail party, and walked out with the adulation of many beautiful woman. Two of which were escorting him arm-in-arm, leaving me to think; “Yes, all the work we do for the developmentally and physically disabled is paying off.”