Chapter 2: Aaron: A Determined Encounter

Here goes Chapter 2 of my CampNanoWriMo experience!

Chapter 2: Aaron: A Determined Encounter

Its been years since I felt like I really belonged. I think I would have felt better if I’d never understood what it felt like to be a part of something. When I was really young, I remember my brother and parents and friends laughing with me and giggling. We did everything together. By the time I entered kindergarten, everything was beginning to change. It seemed all at once that my brother was diagnosed with cancer and they began ‘testing’ me. It took three years, but eventually my brother passed away and my school slapped a ‘diagnosis’ on me. They made me go to special classes and do different work. It drove me crazy.

I knew I missed my brother, but I was so young and didn’t know how to handle everything life threw at me. I disconnected from my family and friends and focused on doing my own thing. My parents broke down after my brother. My dad went into a working coma: work, sleep, work, sleep, eat, work, sleep… My mom, on the other hand, went into an exhaustive hypered frenzy. She began to fundraise, traveling across the US to gather people who would listen and give money to the hospital Ben lived in for his last two years.

That left me pretty forgotten. I had my own struggles, but compared to Ben’s they were nothing so my parents didn’t even address them as a struggle. The summer I turned 11, I was hog wild. I’d wreck things at home, get bad grades, and sometimes pick fights at school. I was really smart, but I’d never sit still. Mom never even noticed. Dad must have blinked in his vegetative state because he noticed I needed attention long enough to send me to Aunt Bella in good old Pennsylvania. She lived on a busy street, so no bike. She worked 40 hours a week, but by then they were all confident I wouldn’t kill myself during the day.

After two work days of sleeping all day and doing not much at night, Aunt Bella decided I needed a project. She gave me three choices: clean out the attic, meet the neighbor, or go home. Somehow she expected these choices were logical, fun, and that I’d thank her. I didn’t.

That brings my life story up to this doorstep. I’m not shy by any means but I have a general distrust of adults… and children, anything but infants really.

Standing in the doorway watching that ignorant kid jabber away, I wasn’t convinced that I’d be doing anything great. When I finally realized what he was saying, I realized that he was talking about this Elisa woman like she was a child, like she had no choices, like an infant.

My Aha! moment clicked in and I decided I had to meet this woman. She spoke very clearly and slowly. I could tell she had a hard time forming words. Then she said the few words that would ever let me to trust anybody:

“Then you’ve been taught to respect my rights as human and citizen,” she croaked.

My heart filled with joy. In her quirky way, she was surprised that she’d gotten attention and respect. Empathy overpowered me, “People are people.”

That first day, I was there for what seemed like hours. I didn't say much, but Elisa had so many stories to tell me. I heard about her wild adventures to faraway lands with incredible people. That poor sap Joe was just as surprised as I was. I didn't leave until late that night, but as Joe and I walked out I asked, "Didn't you ever hear any of those stories before?"

"Mostly she just spews out trash about the United States Constitution, her civil rights, and how something has violated her Catholic beliefs and the first amendment. I never imagined she had so much to say," he admitted.

"You ever ask?" I chided.

"She never let me," he admitted, "she's too busy yelling at me or arguing over things."

I shook my head, You have to listen if you're really going to help someone, I thought. "Goodnight Joe, I'll see you tomorrow."