Johnathen & His Violin

I didn't go to work today because my throat had been killing me for 2 days. I really just needed to rest. I forget sometimes that I'm pregnant, and I probably do more than most non-pregnant women. I ended up cleaning house for 6 hours today. Then at 2:25, I picked Jaydon up from school.
He got 4 greens in a row this week - WOO HOO! He says, "Mom, I got a green dot - can we go to McDonald's?" I said, "We can go to McDonald's because you are hungry, NOT because you got a green dot." I don't want him thinking that there is a reward for a green dot when that is what he SHOULD be getting.

So we go to the McDonald's in Bedford on Central Drive after dropping Mark off at home, and going to the bank. We order our food, and go sit down in the play area - 2 girls are screaming...NICE! Why do kids insist on screaming in there? Then to top it off, the mother of those 2 girls is on her cell phone and when they start screaming, she walks back into the restaurant. HELLO EINSTEIN - if you have to walk into the restaurant because ya can't hear your cell phone, then what on Earth do you think the rest of us are feeling? DUH!

Anyway, in walks this little boy about 12 years old - all by himself. He sits at the table next to us and says, "Hello." Jaydon waves at him, and I say hello. Jaydon turns to me and whispers, "Mommy, is that my new friend?" I said, "Sure honey, if you want it to be." So the little boy says, "What is your name?" Jaydon answers, and then the boy says that his name is Johnathen. He goes on to ask me if I knew where Central Jr. High was, and then tells me that he walked from there to the McDonald's, and then he still had to walk a bit further to his Aunt's house. At this point, I'm not sure if Johnathen is an OVERLY friendly pre-teen, (chances of this are SLIM to none) very lonely and needing attention, or possibly suffering from a disability. I'm thinking now that I look back on the situation I'm about to write about that he was probably a little bit slow...

He comes over to our table after he's done eating, and asks if he can play with Jaydon's helicopter from his Happy Meal. Jaydon says "sure" and they both take off to play with it. Johnathen asks me to please watch his violin case and back pack because they are "important". He & Jaydon return to the table, and he tells Jaydon that he has a violin. Jaydon says, "Can you play it for me...PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE?" Johnathen tells him that he will, and says that he isn't very good. He takes the violin out, and Jaydon is practically jumping up and down waiting to hear the violin played. Jaydon says, "Where's your bow? You can't play without a bow." So Johnathen shows him where it is, and lets Jaydon take it out of the case. He pulls out some sheet music and plays Mary Had a Little Lamb while Jaydon sings along. He finishes, and Jaydon starts clapping....along with EVERY other person in that McDonald's play area!! I have never seen such joy come from 2 children in my life. Of course, I'm bawling at the sight. It just makes me think that here are 2 children ages 5 & 12 - one white (Hispanic), one black, probably from two totally different worlds, and they just meshed like they'd known each other all of their lives. They made adults stop and listen to the music. They made children stare, and they made me cry. Jaydon helps him put away his violin and says, "You did a GREAT job." I cry even more. They continue to play in the play area, and then Johnathen has to go. He says "bye" to us and before leaving, he says, "Hasta la Vista"...Jaydon says "adios". Then they do the "See ya later alligator - after a while crocodile" thing. Then Johnathen puts his face up to the window outside and makes a face at Jaydon, and Jaydon calls him "silly" through the glass. They wave to each other...and we may never see Johnathen again. I know one thing is for sure, I will NEVER forget him. He brought something out of my son that I have never seen before. This little boy was an angel.
Jaydon asks why he isn't getting into a car so I explain that some people walk places - LOL. Ya - lazy family that you have, Jaydon. We never walk ANYWHERE.

After this, we went to the library and checked out a ton of books. Haltom City just built a new library, and it's very nice. The lady at the check-out desk asked why she hadn't seen us in so long. It's a nice feeling when people remember your son. (We got a bunch of books just in case we couldn't do anything outdoors this weekend. I wanted to be prepared.)

Our first baseball game was cancelled. It was scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. We are kind of thankful because we had only been able to practice once and the uniforms just arrived earlier today. It will be rescheduled soon.

Have a great weekend, stay dry, and love every moment that you have with your children...