Dear Amish Family, I am so sorry that my daughter stripped naked on the steps of the Franklin Institute while all your kids were leaving the other day. It must have been quite shocking to see her toss her wet pull up in your direction, have her throw her pink Krocs at your son’s head as he passed by, and have her flash her naked butt for all your family to see. I know from your horrified looks that you must think I am a bad parent, but my daughter has special needs. Since she can not talk, this was her way of staging a formal protest that she didn’t want to leave the museum yet. I am so sorry you were part of the collateral damage, but on the bright side, I bet you had lots to discuss with your kids on your long car ride home.
Dear waiters at The Diner, I am so sorry that my daughter flipped over the dinner table at your restaurant, spilling everyone’s dinner and causing your bus boys to spend an extra 20 minutes cleaning the seats and rugs beneath the table after we left. I am equally mortified that on our way out, my daughter grabbed a patron’s plate of hot food and tossed it on the ground. The broken plate and strognaoff-mess all over your floor was really bad. I know it was quite a scene. I promise you, She isn’t always like this. Her special needs make transitions hard. I am as surprised as you that a little girl only 3 feet tall has that much strength. I know what you are thinking. Impressive, right? I do hope everyone’s tip was satisfactory. Leta really loves your soup. We look forward to returning soon.
Dear Pretzel Shop Owner, I am so sorry that my daughter grabbed another patron’s cheese spread and made such a mess of it on your counter. We also offered to dry-clean the woman’s shirt that Leta somehow managed to cover in Nutella chocolate. It was very nice of you to replace her portion without charging us, and I am so sorry for the scene we made as we departed. My daughter has some strong pipes on her. Oh, and if by chance you happen to find one pink Kroc under a table, that would be ours. Namaste.
Dear Mary, I am so sorry for the loss of your father last night. And I apologize that when you texted me the news of his passing that I responded with a picture of Leta at the beach followed by happy emoticoms of birthday presents and exclamation points. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. I hope you don’t think I am that self-centered. The short explanation is that Leta hickjacked my phone and has apparently figured out how to text pictures and emoticons, which I don’t even know how to do yet. My thoughts are 100% with you and your family right now, and NOT at the beach. I will call you in a few days to find out how you are doing. Much love.
Dear Neighbors, I know from the screams in our house that it sounds like I am beating my children at night, but I promise that I have everything under control. My special needs daughter tends to get a little crazy when her behavioral medication wears off. She can be quite a handful and make a lot of noise, but I promise that everything is O.K . No need to call the police. And thank you to our one neighbor, you know who you are, who happened to see my daughter wandering down the middle of the street yesterday pushing the baby stroller without a baby,directly into traffic. In the blink of an eye, while I was in the bathroom, she managed to run out of the house, grab her wheels and go. Normally I have the doors locked, but she has figured out now how to unlock them. Thank you for going to her aide until I caught up with her and for pointing out that my fly was open.
Dear Photographer at The Camden Aquarium, Thank you for your patience with my daughter who wanted to spend the entire afternoon sitting in front of your stage set having you take her picture again and again and again. She is quite a ham and loves cameras. You were incredibly kind and patient with her. I am so sorry, though, that she held up the line for so long and made such a scene as I tried to drag her out of the picture frame. Have you seen a pink Kroc by chance?
Dear woman at CVS, thank you for being so patient with my daughter yesterday while we waited for medication at the pharmacy. I am so sorry that she kept walking up to you and poking your nose. I hope she didn’t make things worse. I think she was really fascinated that you were wearing a band- aide on your nose,so that was her way of letting you know she was sorry for your injury. That is the reason she kept saying “boo-boo” and making a circular motion with her hands on her chest which means, “sorry” in sign-language. Leta’s special needs and lung disease often limit her physically and verbally but her capacity for empathy is limitless. I really enjoyed our heartfelt conversation about the lessons we can all learn from children like my daughter. Your kind heart was obvious to Leta, and shined through and that is why she didn’t want to leave your side. I hope we meet again. You are a special person.
Dear Friends, If you received a call from me last week and only heard loud screams or funny babbling noises, please do not be concerned. I promise I was not drinking. Leta has a habit of grabbing my phone while I am driving and enjoys calling some of her favorite people. For some reason she wanted to call the Volvo dealership many times, but I also saw that she called many of YOU as well. If your last name begins with an A, this may not be the last time you hear from us, even though I am sure it is the last time I might hear from you. And hopefully you were not one of the one’s we woke up at 6am Sunday morning. I just wanted to have a few minutes more sleep and, wouldn’t you know it,that Leta got hold of my phone…and was calling people for over an hour while I was in deep REM. I am sure you all had fascinating conversations with her. Hope you are having a wonderful summer. Please let me know if you would prefer if I delete your name from my contact list.
Dear lifeguard at the pool, Thank you for understanding that some rules are meant to be broken. My daughter did not understand that the splash pool was not open until 6p and there was no way for me to dissuade her from sitting in the shallow section. I hope we were not too disruptive of the other kids swim lessons. And I promise we will pay closer attention to the schedule next time we come. I also apologize for going down the kiddie fish slide with my daughter. I didn’t read the fine print that adults are not allowed, but I did have my 10 year old catch us like the sign said! I know we were on your last nerve when my special needs daughter joined me in the hot tub. But the sign does say 12 years old and up and she is 16, just very small for her age. Rules are rules. I think we even made you smile by the time we left, no? Leta has a way of breaking through to even the toughest hearts sometimes. We will look forward to seeing you next week.
Dear Carrie- Thank you for appreciating the blessings of imperfection. I had to laugh at the site of you when you left my house after our family dinner last night. You had yellow paint in your hair and on your clothes, you had pasta sauce on your forehead, and your hair was sticking straight up. But we had fun didn’t we? Just another typical night with Leta. Thank you for knowing that our life is messy and unpredictable and yet, you still bravely chose to enter the chaos anyway. We love you.
