It had been a long hard day. We’d been out at a social event during the afternoon. We certainly made small talk with people we really didn’t know very well or even at all and Linda had been part of the party. That famous, typical Williams Syndrome symptom of cocktail party chatter was put to great use.
She loved meeting new people and introduced herself to any face that she didn’t recognise – which was most of the room. The energy dropped as she found the formal thanks, the speeches, the waiting around which was predictably part of this event, very tedious and tiring. However she sat there ever so patiently and responded to my occasional squeezes of her hand as I reassured her that all was okay and it will be over soon.
Three hours later we went home tired but happy having had very pleasant afternoon.
During the evening we watched TV, read books, Linda read her newspapers avidly searching for possible presents to buy or puppies to acquire.
Consider my surprise when just before she was ready to get to bed she turned to me and said “Sister can I say thank you for looking after me” I was a bit bowled over, not sure what context in which to accept this thanks.
When I asked for further explanation she said “Just for looking after me all afternoon. It was really nice. Thank you.”
And my heart melted…
While Linda is often very loving, this moment of her standing back and recognising something as being of value… rare and pricelss.
Sometimes Living With Linda is just so special!!