A Wonderful Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving. It is the first Thanksgiving in a long time that we did not spend it with my wife's family. This year my wife is spending the holiday with her son in Oregon. This left my daughter, Ashley, and I to make our own plans. The first thing that came to mind was to have two of our dear friends from our church Sunday School class, Joyce and Brad (not a couple), over for Thanksgiving dinner. I was looking forward to cooking. It turned out that Brad was already invited for dinner, so I got myself, Ashley, and Joyce invited also. Yes, there is a point to all of this.

The other guest was also named Joyce, and is in a wheelchair. We had a lot of fun joking and teasing one another, along with some serious conversation about family and life issues. What makes this interesting is that, other than our hosts, Dave and Becky, we all have what would be considered developmental disabilities. Brad and Joyce A. had been inmates at Pacific State Hospital in Pomona, and Joyce P. had been an inmate at Fairview State Hospital in Costa Mesa. Ashley was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome with resulting moderate mental retardation and I have Asperger's Syndrome.

It was the most pleasant Thanksgiving that I have had in a very long time. The only thing that could have made it better was if my wife could have been there also. My family spends quite a bit of time with my friends Brad and Joyce P. When we are going somewhere and would like some company, we always invite them along. They bring to the friendship everything and a lot more than most "non-disabled" individuals bring to a relationship: they bring honesty, loyalty, and acceptance.