Sunday with Akila

Akila went to church with us today. Michael has been fighting a bad cold so he stayed home. The kids and I picked her up and went to church. She was very good during church, leaning on my shoulder and holding my hand the entire time.

We went out for lunch after church, and other than a few issues with feet under the table, she was great. This is almost always an issue at a restaurant. If another child accidentally touches her foot from across the table, she goes nuts. Today, she asked nicely for Hezekiah to stop, the first two times. Then she got mad, but didn't lose it. She is just so happy to be with us that she is working hard to control herself.

On the way back to the crisis home, as we were getting close, she started to say that she didn't want to go back. I said I know, but it wasn't time to come home. A minute or so later Imani was crying and the boys were being brats and saying something snotty to her. I told them to be quiet and asked Imani what was the matter. She burst out crying saying that she didn't want Akila to go back to the crisis home. I said I knew it was hard, but is what we need to be doing right now. Akila leaned over and hugged her, and the two of them sat holding each other between the seats.

Now, here is what is kind of bizarre. A typical brained child, would have more than likely started to cry with Imani, and gotten as emotional if not more emotional than Imani. Not Akila. She was almost smiling, and feeling cheerful that her sister was crying. It reminded me of when our dog Hibeam died over a year ago and she was so intrigued by all of our tears and she just sat and watched us all cry. When we pulled up to the house, she comforted Imani and told her it would be OK and that she would see her next weekend. Obviously, this was sweet and loving, but also quite odd.

The emotions of this journey are really interesting. They hit us all at different times when we least expect it. I was at Walgreens picking up some stuff this evening and Akila called crying that she wants to come home. Not the easiest phone call to deal with in a store. I had to walk outside to talk with her. Next weekend my nephew is getting married in the St. Cloud area. We are going to take Akila with, although we thought about not taking her. It will be a good test to see how she does, how we all do.