My son’s middle school home room teacher shot me a text one day. The choir teacher was considering him for a duet. She wanted to give him a shot, but was a little nervous because he’s shown a lack of impulse control, and she wondered what would happen if she gave him a microphone. My son loves the spotlight, and shines when on stage, so I gave her the thumbs up. I was a little perplexed though, because he’s not exactly John Legend, so how did he wind up with a duet?
The story came to me slowly, in pieces. It seems that a friend of his talked him into trying out. Over the past couple of years, they have gotten close, and she wanted him to have a chance to sing his favorite song at the concert, “Let it Go”. She convinced him to try out and as one of the star singers for the choir, agreed to make it a duet.
I figured it would be just a few lines from a chorus they would sing, but no, the choir teacher gave them the entire stage for the whole song.
It starts out slowly, but give it time. By the end of the song, he’s really belting it out.
He never would have done this without Maddie. When I contacted Maddie to see if I had her permission and her mother’s permission to share this story, I found there was more. Maddie’s Instagram is loaded with photos of Alex. Maddie considers Alex one of her best friends, and signed them up to do this as something fun to do with a buddy. Alex has Down syndrome, but I’m not sure that matters at all to Maddie. Her heart sees past any differences, and instead sees a person she simply enjoys hanging out with.
Maybe I shouldn’t be so touched by this. Maybe it’s what we should expect out of everyone, but the simple fact is that most people see Alex as special or different, and Maddie just sees him as Alex.
I learned a lot from Maddie that day. In fact, the poignancy of the moment brought me to tears. Maddie sees Alex in ways that I’m still learning too. Thank you Maddie, for teaching me!
Follow Alethea at Ben’s Writing, Running Mom.