I’m a lucky man. Actually, I’m a very lucky man. You see it wasn’t that long ago, May 24th to be exact, that I was driving up Highway 89 out of Gardiner, MT on my way to the airport at Bozeman. It was about 5:30 AM, on a drizzly, cold morning, travelling next to the Yellowstone River and watching out for elk and mule deer that like to use the road but don’t share well with cars, and I was finishing up 3 and 1/2 spectacular days in Yellowstone National Park.
So what makes me lucky? Well, May 24th was also our 25th wedding anniversary. And I’m nowhere near Florida with the blessing of my wife, Sidney. You see, I had been in Great Falls, MT at a conference of Outreach programs, and she knew how much I had wanted to return to Yellowstone. Her gift to me was permission to spend those extra days and stay, even though it meant I wouldn’t get back home until late on the 24th. My guess is that 99 out of 100 wives would have said, “NO WAY!” But, you see, she understands how much those few days meant to me.
Understand, I have a deep and abiding love of seeing new places. While I’ve been to Yellowstone before, it has never been in the spring. That is the time if you enjoy watching wildlife to go. I spent my time happy as a clam, I saw more Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Bison (many with newborn calves), and Elk than you could count. I also saw Bighorn Sheep, Coyotes, a Badger, and of course, my favorite, the Wolves. There is something about watching a Grizzly move a 300 pound Elk carcass around like you or I would move a hamburger around a plate that does put things in perspective. There is a reason the place has been termed the Serengeti of North America.
So, what does any of this have to do with Special Education or raising a child with disabilities? In my mind, plenty. You see our son Ian has the same bug I do. He wants to go new places and see new things. That desire will help take him far – not just geographically, but in life. He wants to get out of the house and experience life. He wants to explore and travel, to experience new things. I’ve talked in the past about Ian’s perseverance, but perseverance without a reason for it doesn’t get you anywhere. Ian has his list. Australia, Denali, Hawaii, Belgium (particularly Bruges, because the town just may be the chocolate capitol of Europe, with 85 of some of the best chocolate shops in the world), and a horseback pack trip into the Hoodoo region around Yellowstone – supposedly the most remote area in the lower 48 states. We’ll see how many he gets to in the future and how the list changes. But the important thing is that there is a list. If nothing else, we’ve given him the drive to get out of the house and go places and deal with the world as it comes. That is a good thing to have given him, in my mind.
We took another step this past weekend as well in terms of new experiences. It was a local one, however. You see, Ian spent the weekend home by himself for the first time. One of his friends from high school was in town, so they spent the weekend together - a guys’ weekend so to speak. Things went well. Hard for me and Sidney, but great for Ian. Our biggest concern was when Sidney briefed Ian on the 438 rules I had put together, Ian’s question back was, “so it is ok to have girls over, since you did not have a rule against it, right?” Rule number 439 was rapidly added to the list. But the big thing here was another one of those big steps into the wilderness of adulthood. Another test passed, and another adventure had.
See, the dirty little secret is that most of life is an adventure. You don’t really know what is coming around the corner, whether it is on a trail in Yellowstone or 2 blocks from home. The trick is figuring out what to do with whatever situation shows up at that bend. Is it a Grizzly, or just another hiker? You can’t control it, only use your smarts and respond appropriately. But I’m a happy man, because for my son, as for me, we really want to see what is around that corner. I used a quote from Antoine Saint-Exupery not too long ago in an article that basically said that you don’t build a boat by issuing orders. You build a boat by helping those around you long for the immensity of the sea. Think about it, and think about how it applies you your child. I believe that it is an important part of being a child – and also an adult – all that wonder and discovery. So teach your child. Help them want to experience the world. Get those first steps underway, because they will help take your child where he or she wants to go in the future.
