A Different Kind of Normal, Part 4
Written By Charlotte Meryman
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Jimmy is gearing up for his first day in public kindergarten — even as he and his parents are becoming more entrenched, and more at home, in the special needs community.
The series so far: We've followed Jim and Michelle Foard, Jimmy, 5 1/2 and Maddie, 3, for a year now. Jimmy was born with Alfi's syndrome, or 9p minus, a rare chromosomal disorder, and also exhibits about half the signs for autism. The Foards have shown us that to be Jimmy's parents is to embrace "a different kind of perfect," as Michelle says, and "a different kind of normal."This morning, something in the way Michelle called his name made Jim turn off the tap, set down his razor, and step into the hall. Michelle was just coming up the stairs, clutching a small, white plastic stick in her outstretched hand. "We're going to have another baby," said Jim, mustering as much enthusiasm as he could.
They stood at the landing for a moment, hugging. Michelle cried. Both she and Jim liked that she was finally recouping some freedom after the labor-intensive baby years. But they'd also talked about how nice another sibling might be for Jimmy and Maddie — and, frankly, how important another sibling could be to Maddie for sharing in Jimmy's care after they are gone. But forget the months of soul-searching and debate. Never mind the decision they'd reached, together, for Jim to get a vasectomy (he just hadn't made the appointment yet). From the kids' bedroom floated the sounds of Maddie's early morning chatter as she and Jimmy began stirring. Nothing and everything had changed.
That evening, Jim stopped at the florist shop by his office. Michelle had never liked getting flowers; he knew that. A short-lived waste of money, she always joked. But when he put this bouquet in her hands, the tears that filled her eyes were different, somehow, from the morning's. Jim had deliberately picked five long-stemmed roses: two red ones, he said, for him and Michelle, three white roses for the children.
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