Christopher

I’m excited today to introduce you to another friend of mine who had a great impact on my life when I was really young. Meet Christopher!

I was a full on “pro” babysitter when I was a teenager. I took a babysitting course, made my own flyers and even had a “Mary Poppins” bag of toys & activities. It also helped that I had two younger sisters who also loved to work with kids – it was practically like the Babysitter’s Club at our house for several years! I had the opportunity to get to know a lot of kids and their great families. I still hear from some of them from time to time and it’s amazing to see how they’ve grown up.

I met Christopher and his two older brothers before I could drive, so I must have been about 14 or 15. Their mom Laurie would come pick me up and I would keep the three boys while they went out. My sister Elizabeth was the first to watch the boys and she came home and told me all about it. She said that the youngest child had Down syndrome because she knew I would be excited to have the chance to get to know him since I was already buddies with Macy and worked with young kids with special needs at church.

When I finally had the chance to meet Christopher and his brothers, I loved them all immediately! They were such handsome, sweet and well-mannered children and we had a great time together playing baseball in their backyard and coloring together. Christopher had just turned 3 when I met him and he was adorable! He didn’t communicate verbally very much yet but that never stopped him from joining in the fun with the other boys.

I loved spending time with these three boys and I had the chance to keep them for some overnights & weekends as I got older (and could drive myself!). By the time I was in high school, the big brothers would go to their grandparent’s house for the weekend and Christopher would spend the weekend with my family and me at my house. Christopher and I would have the greatest time together – playing at the park, going to get ice cream, watching movies, going to church and hanging out with my friends. (The picture above is Christopher at a pool party with my friends!)

He would often say the blessing at mealtime with my family on our weekends together and it was the sweetest thing! He was babbling and not verbalizing many clear words, but his heart was in it and it made my whole family smile.

Christopher learned and grew so much during the years that I spent time with him and I found it fascinating to watch it all unfold. As he began to learn more verbal skills, I was amazed when his parents told me that one day he went out on their back deck, lifted his arms up toward to sky and called out “Jacque!”. My name was the first he ever said apart from Mom and Dad. What a privilege!

Watching Christopher learn new skills directed me to focus on a career goal of teaching kids with disabilities. I decided from a very young age that I would go to college to focus on a teaching degree with an end game of finding myself in a classroom to help more kids similar like Christopher learn. I remember one particular situation very vividly when I watched Christopher accomplish a difficult task by himself. We were just leaving the park and heading to the local Bruster’s to get some ice cream. He was having a hard time getting the car door open. It was frustrating and he just wanted me to do it for him. But I knew he could do it! So I encouraged him to try again and he finally did open it himself. He looked up at me with such amazement on his face as if he were saying, “You’re right! I can do it by myself!”. I loved that moment and had the incredible opportunity to see many more kids have that realization during my short six years of teaching. I’m grateful that Christopher showed me that was possible!

As you can imagine, when I graduated from high school and moved to Dahlonega to start college, all of my babysitting opportunities were left far behind. I visited Christopher when a baby sister joined the family around 2001 but I haven’t seen them since then. I’ve lost touch with them and would love to meet up with Christopher again and learn about what he’s up to these days. But even if we never have the chance to have an ice cream cone together again, I count it a gift to have spent so much time with Christopher. The lessons he taught me have brought me so far. Christopher’s picture is in my office today to remind me of those lessons.

Thanks Christopher!