A friend indeed

In Maggie's last years she became friends with a new and older group of kids, including Thanh, Ben and Clay. Thanh was a mentor to Maggie and other kids, especially those who used talkers. Thanh herself used one and was quite good at it. She invited Maggie to an art show along with the other guys and we went and had a great time.

Maggie was a bit intimidated because these were the older cooler guys and she was the young tag along. They never treated her as such, but I could see how nervous she was. The more we hung out with them, the more comfortable Maggie was. In fact, I began to feel uncomfortable because I was the only parent. Each of them had someone young and cool as a companion and Maggie had her old mom. I felt like the old tag along - but they never treated me like that either. It was a welcoming group that gave Maggie's last year or so a new depth and provided much needed recreation. We went to the park, to baseball games, and bowling. Maggie loved all of it.   Here they are bowling at either Clay's or Ben's birthday party. We went for both birthdays, and I'm telling you those guys are bowling sharks.

Thanh, an accomplished artist has been telling me lately that she was preparing something for Maggie. I didn't know what it was, but last night she sent me this video, which I will treasure always.

Thank you, Thanh for this wonderful remembrance and thank you and Clay and Ben and all of you for being her friend and making her last year so much fun. You were friends indeed.