Jimmy

::::::::::REWRITE  IN  PROGRESS::::::::::

This story was written quite some time ago and is in need of a major overhaul.  If you read it while I am still rewriting, please keep in ming that significant changes are going to be made, additional information added, and rough areas smoothed out.

         Thanks for taking the time to look at my work.  I hope you'll return to see it again after it has been edited and updated.

Deborah


INTRODUCTION
Children are special people.

They often do not show prejudice unless they are taught prejudice.

They often do not think of differences as being superior or inferior until someone tells them to think of them that way.

They often do not notice a disability as such until someone points it out to them.

The little girl in this story is one such child...innocent, compassionate, and accepting of all others regardless of their differences, as long as they are accepting of her.

This is the story of a special friendship between a little girl and a friend she made at the park...a friend who was different...a friend with Down's Syndrome. This is the story of Fallon and Jimmy, two children who met at the park and forged a friendship despite, or perhaps because of, their differences.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Fallon loved to go to the park to play. She loved to lie in the grass and watch the clouds float past and then swing as high as she could to try to touch them. She loved to run and jump and play in the sandbox. Most of all, though, Fallon loved to make friends at the park and go back on another day to meet them again.

One day while Fallon and her Mom were at the park they met a lady with a little boy. His name was Jimmy. Jimmy and Fallon were the same age, five years old.

"Would you like to play in the sandbox, Jimmy?" Fallon asked, showing Jimmy her new pail and shovel.

Jimmy looked up at his mother, who smiled and nodded her approval. "Yes," Jimmy replied.

Fallon kept the shovel but handed the pail to Jimmy, and together they ran off to the sandbox. Jimmy's mother and Fallon's mother found a bench nearby so they could talk and watch the children.

Fallon and Jimmy had a wonderful time playing in the sandbox. They scooped up the sand with the shovel and packed it into the pail to make sand castles. They pretended that sticks were people and used them to play in the castles. They played and played in the sandbox. Neither one wanted to go home when the clouds grew dark, but then the thunder came.

"Do you come to this park often?" Jimmy's mother asked.

"We try to come at least once a week, sometimes more," Fallon's mother replied.

"Maybe we will see you again, then," Jimmy's mother said , walking towards the parking lot.

"Bye Jimmy. I will look for you next time we come to the park," Fallon called out as she got in the car.

Jimmy called back, "Okay!" and he smiled a great big smile.

Later that night Fallon's Dad came home from work. "How was your day, Sunshine," he asked her.

"Mommy and I went to the park and I made a new friend!" Fallon explained with excitement. She told her father all about playing in the sandbox with her new pail, her new shovel, and her new friend.

"Tell me about your friend," Fallon's father said.

"Well, he's a lot like me. He's five, just like me," Fallon announced, holding up five fingers.

"He's as tall as me." Fallon held her hand up at her forehead to show her height.

"He has blue eyes like me," she continued, pointing at her eyes and blinking them.

"He has blond hair like me, too" she said, curling the end of a pigtail around her finger.

"And he loves to play in the sandbox!" she finished, smiling as she remembered Jimmy and the stick people playing in the sandcastles.

"He sounds very nice," Fallon's father said.

Just then Fallon's mother called her to help set the table, so Fallon ran off to help.

The next day it was rainy and Fallon and her mother couldn't go to the park. "I miss Jimmy," she said.

"Maybe it will be nice tomorrow," Fallon's mother said.

But it wasn't. The next day it rained again. It even rained the day after that! Fallon thought it would never stop raining. "I really do miss Jimmy," she said as she went to bed on that third rainy night.

"Maybe it will be nice tomorrow," Fallon's mother told her again.

When Fallon woke up the next morning she lay very still in her bed. She didn't want to open her eyes to see it raining again. "I don't hear rain on my window," she said to herself. Very slowly Fallon opened one eye and looked around her room. It was brighter than it had been the last few days. Then she opened the other eye. "It's sunny!" she squealed happily. As quickly as she could, Fallon got dressed and ran down to the kitchen.

"Its sunny today, Mommy!" Fallon called as she burst through the doorway.

Fallon's mother smiled as she sipped her coffee. "Yes, it is sunny. How would you like to have a picnic at the park today?"

"Can we bring extras in case Jimmy is there and wants to have a picnic, too?"

"Of course we can," Fallon's mother said.

Fallon and her mother spent the morning getting everything ready for their picnic. They found the green-checkered tablecloth in the garage and laid it flat to make sure it was clean. They found the picnic basket and made sure that the cups and plates inside were clean. Soon everything was clean and dry and the picnic basket was packed full of good things to eat.

"We're ready to go!" Fallon announced.

"Wait a minute," Fallon's mother said. "We have to make some juice so we have something to drink!"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot," Fallon giggled.

As soon as the juice was made and poured into the thermos, Fallon and her mother packed their picnic things in the car along with Fallon's ball. "It will be too wet to play in the sandbox," Fallon's mother told her.

All Fallon could talk about on the way to the park was Jimmy. "Do you think he's here?" she asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

"I don't know," Fallon's mother told her. "Maybe Jimmy's mom thought it would be too muddy. We'll have to wait and see."

Fallon didn't have to wait long. As soon as she got out of the car she saw Jimmy and his mother walking across the parking lot towards them.

"Jimmy!" she cried, waving her arms frantically to get his attention.

Jimmy saw her, let go of his mother's hand, and ran towards her. He was barely able to stop before knocking her over! Jimmy gave Fallon a big hug. He was glad to see her, too.

"We brought a picnic today," Fallon informed Jimmy and his mother. "And we brought enough for you in case you want to have a picnic with us!"

"That would be just lovely," Jimmy's mother said.

Fallon's mother and Jimmy's mother picked a table in the warm sunshine. Jimmy and Fallon helped to spread out the tablecloth. Jimmy set out the plates and Fallon set out the cups, and then Jimmy's mother and Fallon's mother got out the food and the juice.

"I brought my ball today since the sand is muddy," Fallon told Jimmy when they had finished eating. "Do you want to play ball?"

"Yes!" Jimmy said excitedly. Jimmy smiled a great big smile.

"Jimmy doesn't get asked to play ball very often," Jimmy's mother said.

Fallon looked at Jimmy's mother and smiled. "Jimmy can always play ball with me!"

Jimmy and Fallon kicked the ball back and forth across the grass for a long time while their mothers talked. Fallon saw some of the other children she knew playing on the swings. "Do you want to go swing, Jimmy?" she asked.

Jimmy looked over at his mother, who smiled and nodded her approval. "Hold on tight," she reminded.

Fallon and Jimmy headed towards the swings. "Hi Mandy!" she called out to her friends. "Hi Brian!" When the other children saw Fallon and Jimmy they jumped off the swings and ran away. "Oh well," Fallon said to Jimmy, "I guess it was time for them to go home."

Jimmy and Fallon played on the swings until it was time for them to go home. Once again, neither wanted to leave, but their mothers had errands to run before returning home.

"Bye, Jimmy," Fallon said sadly. "I hope I will see you here again."

Jimmy smiled a great big smile and gave Fallon a great big hug. "You will see me," he said. "I love to come to the park with you."

A couple days later, Fallon's mother stopped at the park again, but Jimmy wasn't there. Mandy and Brian were playing on the slide so Fallon went to play with them.

"Hi Fallon," they called out. "You don't have that weird boy today, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" Fallon asked, confused.

"The other day you and that weird boy came to play on the swings," Mandy began.

Brian laughed and said, "Yeah, we saw you coming with him and we pretended not to hear you and ran away."

"Oh," Fallon said with a sigh. "Jimmy and I thought you had to go home."

Mandy and Brian stared at Fallon for a moment. "You don't like that weird boy, do you?" Mandy asked.

"He's not weird!" Fallon said.

"Didn't you ever look at him?" Brian asked with surprise. "His eyes are strange and he looks different and he can't do things as good as we can. I think he's a retard!" Brian let go and disappeared down the slide.

"He is not!" Fallon insisted.

"Yes he is," Mandy teased. "And so are you if you play with him!" She let go and disappeared down the slide after Brian.

"No he's not!" Fallon yelled down the slide after them. "He's my friend!" Fallon went down the slide and ran across the playground to her mother, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Fallon, what's wrong," her mother asked. "Did you fall and get hurt?"

"No," Fallon sobbed into her mother's shoulder.

Fallon's mother let her cry for a moment until she had calmed down. "Do you want to talk about it, Sweetie?" she asked.

Fallon nodded. "Mandy and Brian said Jimmy is a retard," she whimpered. "And they said that I am, too, if I play with him." A fresh tear trickled down Fallon's cheek.

Fallon's mother hugged her closer and asked, "What did you tell them?"

"I told them Jimmy is not a retard. He's my friend."

Fallon's mother smiled. "He is your friend," she comforted.

"Why don't they like Jimmy?" Fallon asked. "I like him. He's nice and he's fun to play with. They said he is weird and can't do the same things we can do."

"Well, Fallon, Jimmy is a little different from other children," Fallon's mother began.

"But he's not different from me," Fallon insisted. "He has blond hair like me, and blue eyes like me, and he likes to play ball and play in the sand."

"That is all true. But Jimmy is different. Jimmy was born with a condition called Down Syndrome. His mother and I talked about it while you were playing with Jimmy the other day." Fallon's mother wiped the tears from her daughter's cheeks. "Sometimes Jimmy does have a hard time doing what other children do, but he keeps trying and trying until he can do it well."

"That's not weird, though," Fallon said. "Sometimes I have to keep trying and trying before I can do something. Remember when Daddy was teaching me to ride my bike?"

Fallon's mother smiled. "Yes, I remember. And you are right. Jimmy is not weird. He is special."

Fallon looked back at the playground. It looked lonely and boring without Jimmy. "I'm ready to go home now," she said.

The next time Fallon and her mother went to the park, Jimmy was already there. He looked sad sitting on the edge of the sandbox moving the sand around with his feet. Jimmy's mother sat nearby on a bench looking at a magazine.

"Jimmy!" Fallon cried.

Jimmy looked up, startled. When he saw Fallon his frown turned into a great big smile. He jumped up and ran towards her. "You came!" he said excitedly.

"Yes, and I brought my roller skates!" Fallon held up a pair of bright blue and yellow skates that would slip over her shoes. "Do you like to skate?

Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. "Jimmy has never tried roller skating," his mother told Fallon.

Fallon's eyes opened wide. She couldn't imagine not knowing how to roller-skate because she loved to skate. Then she had an idea. "Can I let Jimmy try out my skates?" she asked Jimmy's mother.

"I don't see why not," she said. "Just be careful. Jimmy sometimes has trouble keeping his balance."

"So do I," Fallon said, thinking about the time she fell on the driveway and skinned her elbow. Fallon's mother smiled. She knew what Jimmy's mother was saying but Fallon had not understood.

Jimmy's mother tried to explain. "Sometimes Jimmy has trouble doing certain things, and sometimes it takes him a little longer to learn how to do these things." But Fallon didn't care. Jimmy was her friend and she liked to spend time with him.

"It took me a while to learn how to skate, too," Fallon told Jimmy.

Fallon helped Jimmy adjust the skates to fit over his shoes. She buckled one and he buckled the other. "Here," she said, handing him her skating helmet and pads. "You always have to wear a helmet so you don't bump your head. The pads go on your knees and elbows so you don't get hurt if you fall down."

Jimmy smiled. He was excited about learning how to skate. Soon he had the pads and helmet in place and he was ready to go. Fallon stood in front of Jimmy and held his hands to help him up off the bench.

"We'll go really slow," Fallon reassured him. "That's how my Mommy and Daddy taught me to skate."

Jimmy moved his feet back and forth as Fallon walked in front of him holding both of his hands. "You're doing great!" she said with a smile.

Jimmy gave her a great big smile. "It's fun," he said. "Fun, Mommy!" he called to his mother.

Fallon's mother and Jimmy's mother watched their children as Jimmy skated on the paved path nearby holding onto Fallon's hands to keep his balance. After a while, Jimmy let go of one hand and Fallon walked beside him instead of in front of him.

Fallon had been so busy helping Jimmy learn to skate that she hadn't seen some of her other friends arrive at the park. When they saw her, they called her to come and play with them. Brian and Mandy were with them.

"Come on, Fallon! We're going to play ball!" they said, coming closer.

When they saw Jimmy they all began to laugh. "Come on, Fallon," they teased. "You don't want to hang around with the retard!"

Tears filled Jimmy's big almond-shaped eyes as he looked at Fallon. Then he looked down at the shiny blue and yellow skates on his feet. He was having so much fun and didn't want it to be over. But he knew what was going to happen. It had happened many times before. Every time he made a friend, other children would tease them and his new friend would run away and never play with him again.

Fallon looked at Jimmy staring sadly at the shiny skates and squeezed his hand.

Fallon's mother and Jimmy's mother heard what the other children were saying. Jimmy's mother was used to her son being teased by other children and she started to get up from the bench. "Please," Fallon's mother said, "I know you want to go to him. But please wait a moment. I want to see what Fallon will do."

Jimmy's mother agreed and sat back down, tears filling her eyes. What would this little girl do? She didn't want to see her son get hurt again. Fallon seemed different, though. She and Jimmy were having so much fun together. Perhaps Jimmy had finally found a true friend after all.

"Come on, Fallon," the other children pressed. "Let's go."

"Can Jimmy play ball with us, too?" she asked.

The other children began laughing and pointing. "Fallon likes the retard! Fallon likes the retard," they sang.

"You stop that right now!" Fallon shouted, holding Jimmy's hand even tighter. Jimmy looked at her with wide eyes. He couldn't believe she wasn't running away! "You leave him alone! Jimmy is my friend, and he's not a retard! He's special!"

The other children continued to laugh and point, but Fallon's mother and Jimmy's mother smiled at each other proudly.

"Come on, Jimmy," Fallon said, helping him turn around on the skates. "Let them go play their dumb old ball game by themselves. I'd rather stay here with you anyhow!"

"You all go away!" Fallon turned and glared at the other children. "If you can't be nice then leave us alone!"

The other children didn't know what to say. They were surprised because Fallon had always loved to play ball with them before. They turned around and walked away.

Jimmy's mother and Fallon's mother both got up off the bench and headed towards their very special children.

Jimmy squeezed Fallon's hand, smiled at her, and then let go. All on his own he skated towards his mother. "Look at you skating!" Jimmy's mother said happily as he reached her.

"Fallon's my friend, Mommy," Jimmy whispered as he hugged his mother.

"Yes, Jimmy, she sure is," Jimmy's mother whispered back.

Fallon ran to her own mother. "Why were they so mean to Jimmy?" she asked.

"Some children just don't understand," she said. Fallon's mother didn't know quite what to say to her daughter. "Sometimes other children will do things that aren't nice. Sometimes they make fun of other children who are different than they are."

"But Jimmy's not different," Fallon insisted, remembering the conversation they had had a few days earlier. "He likes to play in the sandbox and skate just like me!"

Fallon's mother smiled. "Yes, Fallon, you and Jimmy are a lot alike," she said finally. "You are friends, and that's all that matters."

"We are friends, and that's all that matters," Fallon repeated.

"Would anyone like to go for an ice cream cone?" Jimmy's mother asked.

"Hooray!" Jimmy and Fallon both shouted. Jimmy took off the helmet and pads while Fallon unbuckled the skates.

"Let's go!" she said, taking Jimmy's hand.

On the way to the parking lot Jimmy stopped walking and looked at Fallon. "We are friends, Fallon," he said happily. Jimmy smiled a great big smile.

"Yes we are," Fallon replied. She smiled a great big smile, too. "We'll be friends forever, and that's all that matters."


~*~*~*~*~*~*~

PERSONAL NOTES: Having known several families with children with Down Syndrome, I have seen some of both the problems and the joys experienced by these children and these families. I assure you, the joys outweigh the troubles.

Children with Down Syndrome are very socially intelligent. They love getting attention, just like other children. They love talking to other people and telling them what they have been doing and where they have been, just like other children. They are exceptionally affectionate and eager to try to please others. They are also, very often, overlooked and misunderstood because sometimes they may not be able to speak as well, run as fast, jump as high, etc. Although these special children may test in the range of mild mental retardation, they will surprise you with their creativity and ingenuity.

These children are very special. They are beautiful and unique, as are all children, and deserve to be treated with the same dignity, love, and respect. If you know a child with Down Syndrome, you most likely already know the joys that such children can bring to those around them. Take the time to experience and be a part of those joys. One of the comments I hear most often from those families I know who live with Down Syndrome on a daily basis is: "When our child was born we worried about how we would teach him (or her) the skills he needed to have in order to get along in life. In reality, that was never really a problem. Now we are amazed at how much he has taught us about skills we didn't even realize we needed. Our life is much richer because of him."

NOTE TO PARENTS: Children often react to people in the way they see their parents or others react. At many times, our children's, and even our own reactions as parents stem from fear or lack of understanding. Here are some websites you may wish to investigate to gain a better understanding of Down Syndrome and those who deal with its implications on a daily basis.



National Down Syndrome Society: http://www.ndss.org/aboutds/aboutds.html

National Association for Down Syndrome: http://www.nads.org/

Upside!: http://www.telebyte.com/upside/upside.html

Welcoming Babies With Down Syndrome: http://www.nas.com/downsyn/welcome.html

Life Extension Foundation: Down Syndrome: Disease Therapy Protocol: http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-045.shtml