Why does it look like everyone else but me is having a great ol' time?

 

If we could actually see the shadows of the miscreants who whisper such absurdities in our ears, we would be appalled. I suspect that they are misshapen, ghoulish and sound like chalk skidding on a chalkboard. Nothing about them would suggest integrity, and we would dismiss them as easily as I do phone solicitors.

 

"Mrs. Odhner, this is your golden opportunity to invest in lakefront property in southern Florida... "

 

Yeah right. My neighbors would be eight foot alligators, and the humidity would poach an egg. 

 

So why are many of us duped by the absurdities that slither into our minds when we were otherwise minding our own business?

 

One of the interesting perks about having a son with autism is noticing that he is immune to such lies. Jealousy finds no purchase in his thinking. On Christmas morning he is quite content with the contents of his stocking, and it would not occur to him to expect anything. Even amidst the confusion of eight siblings passing bright gifts to each other, he expresses no need for more. On the contrary, his older brothers and sisters, who have taken great pains and big bucks to find the perfect Toy Story truck or Lego kit to ignite his million dollar smile, have to coax his attention away from the pack of cards he has been playing with since eight o'clock.

 

There is a song by the group Accappella that I have listened to for perhaps twenty years. It seems to come on just when I am falling prey to those grumbling doubts.

 

It is a calm place to be when I can get there, that oasis of acceptance. Not only that... it is true. 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Chara Odhner

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