Loving Andrew by Romy Wyllie

Author:Romy Wyllie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: special needsdown syndromeparenting a special needs childparenting memoirdisabilities nonfictionschizophrenia mental illness mental healthcancer childrenreligion
Publisher: Romy Wyllie

Chapter 15:

Family Graduations

Nineteen seventy-four was our year of graduations. After six years in Ray School, Andy (aged fifteen) graduated from the educable mentally handicapped program. At the ceremony he looked just like the other graduates, all of them bedecked in golden gowns and matching caps. Radiant with pride, he carried his certificate home and showed it to his brother and sister. They both tried on his robe to see how it would feel when they finished middle school. We took his photo in the back garden with Pucci at his side. As Pucci looked up to him, Andy turned to his beloved pet and said, “Well, I did it, Pucci. Aren’t you proud of me? Now I am going to high school.”

Andy could read and write, swim, play the piano, ride a bicycle (sometimes too far afield), and find his way around the neighborhood on his own. In the last two years he had grown unknown inches and spanned several sizes in clothes. He wore glasses and always kept his clothes and hair neat. He was polite and friendly and made sure people understood what he said, sometimes spelling a word if he could not pronounce it clearly. He might have received better instruction in academic subjects at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy private boarding school, but he had become proficient in the basic skills of life. By sending him to the nearby public school and making him a fully participating member of our family, we had succeeded in helping him become integrated into the regular life of the community.

I graduated from Harrington Institute of Interior Design and felt satisfied that I had worked hard and achieved my diploma. I took the summer off before accepting a job with an interior design firm in the city. Our most exciting graduation was a ceremony at our alma mater, the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, where Pete was awarded an honorary doctorate of science.

We flew to Scotland and stayed in a small hotel in Edinburgh so the children could meet their great-aunt Florence, who was my father’s youngest sister and the last of eleven children. She had been a schoolteacher and always took an interest in the lives of her nephews and nieces and their families. After our trip she wrote, “I remember how surprised I was that Andy’s writing and spelling were so good when I read his diary.”

Before leaving Chicago, we had repeated our previous rehearsals for appropriate behavior in hotels and people’s homes. We had shown Andy how to put his knife and fork together when he had finished eating. One evening in the hotel dining room, Andy had put his knife and fork down on his plate but not together because he still had vegetables (his favorite peas) to finish. Before Andy could pick them up again, an energetic waiter whisked his plate away.

A frantic Andy protested vociferously, “Hey, I haven’t finished. Why did you take my plate away?” He had remembered our instructions and done the right thing, but now his food had disappeared.

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