A Disturbance in the Force

Apparently there was BIG DRAMA at Therapeutic Recreation today.

Big surprise, right?

Today, the drama involved Joshua and Jenni...and Matthew and Marcy.

Joshua and Jenni have dated for over 10 years. They are each other's lobsters, even tho during the course of any given day, they might either be madly in love...or just mad.

Hahahahahaha...I crack myself up.

Matthew and Marcy are a new(er) couple.

Marcy and Jenni talk about weddings and getting married and all kinds of girl-stuff like that ALL THE TIME, and I think I may have mentioned a time or ten that EVERYTHING is a competition between the FRIENDS at the TR Center.

So, knowing that, it shouldn't come as a surprise that there was a perfect storm brewing...and Joshua walked right into it this morning. Marci is non-verbal, but she gets her point across and one of those ways is writing on the dry-erase board.

Side note: The TR Center burned several years ago, and it took about 2 years to get it rebuilt because building a place for kids and adults with special needs to hang out and learn stuff is not high on any city's priority list. BUT it was finally built and I remember walking in on the first day and trying to hold back the tears. It was clean and new and shiny. And even tho it was built in the absolute HOOD of SW Little Rock, I still thought it was beautiful.

That first day, several of the other FRIENDS were already there. I stopped and looked around...I wanted to take it alllll in. Some FRIENDS were sitting in a circle just talking; some were sitting at the table talking; one girl was making and drinking coffee; one girl was sitting by herself at a separate table (her choice, sensory issues) putting together a puzzle; a couple of FRIENDS were sitting out on the back porch. Marci was writing on the dry-erase board. I remember thinking, "this is so neat...everyone is doing things that they want to do. Even Marci is able to find an activity that she loves.

I checked Joshua in, and on my way out, the dry-erase board was turned so that I could see what Marci had written. I thought she was drawing unicorns and rainbows...instead she had written: "The next time we go golfing, I'm staying home because I HATE GOLF."

Tell us how you really feel, Marci.

Back to today: Joshua walked in on a full-out cat-fight between Marcy and Jenni. Oh, they weren't going at it physically, but they were going at it. Marci had written on the board, "Matt and I are getting married before Joshua and Jenni."

And Jenni saw it.

Jenni went NUTS...and that started a little holy war among the FRIENDS.

Joshua said that he had to "pull Jenni off of Marci several times."

(it's at this point that Holly said that she would LOVE to see Jenni and Marci going at it)

(it's at this point that you need to know that all of these FRIENDS are in their mid-late 20's)

(it's at this point that you need to know that Jenni was not physically touching Marci in any way, shape or form. They were just fussing...LOUDLY)

(it's also at this point that you need to know that Marci is a small, thin, Black, non-verbal girl who happens to have CP...and Jenni has Down Syndrome and is very verbal...and was as mad as a hornet. Or, as my Grandma Ellen used to say, "mad as a HONNET.") (She was from Virginia). Marci's main form of communication is her cell phone. She can text like a mad-woman.

Joshua apparently had had enough, and told Jenni and Marci, "Matt and I will be making this decision...when we're ready. The-man-asks-the-woman. END.OF.STORY."

Joshua also said that pulling Jenni off of Marci was like "pulling an 18-wheeler off of a mini-van."

Just gonna wait a second and let that sink in.

If I had a dollar for every person who told me when I had Joshua, "oh, THEY are soooo loving" (talking about kids with Down Syndrome)...well, I'd be a rich woman!

"In your anger, do not sin..." Ephesians 4:26