Bookends

After a life of transfers, Willie finally went to a school that worked for him, not against him. After the school in Depew, illegally expelled him, with no where else to go, a school named Victory Baker accepted him, supported him and guided him to his high school graduation. His mother fought and advocated him to this accomplishment! Willie did well. He walked across the stage and accepted his…

 Sunsets are a reminder that no matter what transpired, you survived another day.

Willie turned 21 today, and I must make a note of it. Yes! My grandson has hit the age of young men thinking of leaving home if they haven’t already. Many are working or in college. They’re dating, and some are considering marriage and children. Willie is into hygiene. Do my breath stink? Do I stink? He knows when he needs a haircut. He is also reading. He doesn’t play video games. He watches…

Today is Willie’s 19th. Birthday. His mom, his dad, a friend, and myself will wear t-shirts representing autism. I believe Willie has an autism shirt stating that he is the birthday boy. Willie is not a boy. He is a young adult who will probably never live on his own. I can’t imagine the fear this causes his mom. The thought of what will happen to him if anything happens to her. I have not cared…

Willie has returned to school after over a year. It’s a real school, unlike the program he was attending for 2 hours a day, which had 40 minutes of travel time. I have prayed and hoped for him to return to the stability of school. I recently saw Willie and asked him if he likes the school and the teachers, and he answered, “Yes.” His mom sent me pictures of his morning routine. A good stretch…

Willie turned 18 a few weeks ago. This has been quite the journey, a ride of many twists, turns, and crashes. His mother gave him a sort of party. Just a few people, mostly family and a couple of mom’s friends. The venue, though, was the thing. The Bikes Willie’s eighteenth birthday was at a motorcycle club. Willie and I Willie’s sister Shinashia and her kids, La’miya and Darren. Willie’s…

I saw Willie last night, and there was agitation. Mom needed to use the blender, and Willie was instructed to stay nearby. He and mom and I were in the kitchen. Kitchens are triggers for Willie. He looks for stuff that sets him off. He asks to “borrow” food. The food is never anything he likes. I don’t understand the purpose of this. Sometimes, though, if it’s in a glass container, it may be…

Just because a new year has begun, a new post is warranted. I spent Christmas watching the news about Buffalo New York while stranded at my sister’s house in Niagara Falls, New York. I live in Buffalo, but I left Thursday the 22nd to spend Christmas with family. My son had arrived from Florida the day before, after spending the night at a Florida airport. There was supposed to be a huge gathering…

If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say? FOR THE READS OF YOUR LIFE, GO TO [email protected]

I didn’t get to go out on the boat. It was finally water ready, and then boating weather was over. It’s my brother’s boat. Maybe next year we’ll sail.

Willie waiting for school bus then. Willie waiting for school bus a few months ago. This is what Willie has experienced the past few years. It started with holiday celebrations. Willie has been suspended during Easter, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. He has known about these holidays and anticipated returning to school and making crafts or coloring eggs with us trying to explain that these…

Willie has once again been sent home from school. In special needs schools, students receive shorter breaks. Two-week school breaks are divided because transitioning back into school is disruptive to the routine of special needs children. I know it is for Willie and now his school sent him home on June 7th. 2022 and asked that he remain home until September 2022. The school’s action has been…

At Least I Have Blogged!

I am blogging here to say that I did. I have reminders on my phone that say, “it’s time to blog on blkkat49. I set the reminder and have ignored it far too often. This isn’t much, but at least I have blogged!

It’s been 60 years since my dad told me that here in Buffalo, New York, we always get at least one big snow after Saint Patrick’s Day before we head into spring. Today is March 27th 2022. He hasn’t been proved wrong yet. That’s why when the warm spring like days follow March 17th, and people say the snow is finally gone, I think of my dad and just smile.

                                                                   It was a beautiful day in Buffalo. There was sun, a clear blue sky, and a shaded porch. I am sitting with my patient on her porch for the first time ever. I have been with her since before her first birthday. She turned 5 in April, and this is the first time we ever sat on her porch. Then here they come, well they didn’t exactly…

My recent “wee” moment was an easy, but infrequent one. Taking a walk to a destination rather than riding in my son’s car, my daughter’s car or a taxi. It was feeing the pavement on my feet for more than the time it takes to walk from a door to a car and back again. I would feel a breeze instead of air-conditioning. The day was hot, but I knew the breeze and the smell of nature would make it all…

         .                              A Covid-19 Event: Willie turned 16 April 20th 2021 My Sugga Dugga turned 16. I asked Willie did he want to learn how to drive. He answered emphatically “No!” Willie’s only interest in cars is to keep track of the comings and goings of the cars in his driveway.  There’s a methodology to that also. Is Jha gone? Where’s Nay’s car? Is La’miya and Darren here?…