It was a Starbucks date that started like any other. Apple juice for jack, and a venti toffee nut iced coffee for me. We sat, we colored and I sent jack off to deliver his masterpiece to a stranger. Usually the encounter ends there with a smile and a wave. That particular day it did, until I checked Facebook later in the day and was connected to a post by a friend who had seen someone post a picture a boy had given him. How it had made his day, and how he didn’t get to talk to us before we left. It made me feel so good, knowing that Jack’s little gesture had found its way to him and impacted him enough where he wanted to share it. It was only a matter of time before we were connected with one of Jacks new friends.
This is where the idea for the page The Starbucks Project with Jack came from. He delivers his picture to them on his own, so unless the approach us after jack is the one who talks to them. Usually I wave and mouth thank you to the strangers as they graciously talk to my little nugget. I have had the pleasure of running into some of them later and they have told me how much it meant to them, but I wanted to start a little community, a small way that if they search through social media they can find us and leave a message. This way, if they want to, they can follow along. Follow this journey as it turns into whatever it becomes, wherever we decide to take it. Also, so that the baristas can tell the people that ask after him when we arent here how to connect. I didn’t anticipate it becoming the wonderful thing it has already, but the best things aren’t I guess.
A week later I bumped into Mark again, this time by myself and we chatted for a while about Jack, and how we had started what we were doing and why. He told me that it meant a lot to him, that he keeps a journal and showed me a picture where he wrote in it to be more like Jack. It makes my mom heart swell up and that liquid come to my eyes again. This teeny little thing he did affected this grown man he has never met. That is what we all do on a larger scale every day. Every thing we say, every interaction we have gets absorbed by both people. You never know what is going on at the other end, just how you feel as a result. I still remember the man who screamed at me in traffic 2 years ago. He was so mad, he thought I was texting on my phone while at a stop light. It filled me with rage and I thought about it for days. I have seen him here and there since, talking on the phone angrily, watching the news in a local place and swearing at the tv. That interaction I took so personally as this outpouring of rage in my direction, I answered with rage. The more I see him in his state of anger, just about everywhere he is, I realize it wasn’t me. I took it personally but maybe he is an angry person. Maybe he comes off that way because terrible things have happened to him, or other people have been horrible to him. It took the weight off me and instead of thinking about him and getting angry, I want to give him a hug instead. I won’t, but I think about it. Maybe he just needs a little love…….maybe he is just an asshole. We will never know.
I digress. Back to Jack and Mark. They had the best kind of interaction. The kind that spreads love and feeds souls. This week I was back at Starbucks (I know, shut up, the coffee is good and the staff and I are friends now), waiting for a friend to arrive and in walks Mark. We say hello again, he asked how Jack was doing and how he likes camp ect. We talked for a few min and then he told me that his wife, Kelli, works for Hasbro and would like to set up a time for Jack to come for a tour and see everything. I said of course, he would love that!!!! Then……….what is hasbro?? I know, I live under a rock. For a few seconds I thought he meant the hospital, and whatever Jack is happy to be just about anywhere doing anything ever. He nicely told me not the hospital but Hasbro, the toy company. The one that makes the marvel toys? Transformers?
SHUT UP.
That was my inner monologue. My outer one was, “That would be amazing and he would absolutely love that. I will email you my contact information.” I then proceeded to text my friends in an excited frenzy!!! This all happened because jack drew him a picture and now Jack is going to get to go see where they create all the cool stuff he dies over in the store??? Amazing. His fairy Godfathers were especially excited, and may stow away for the trip.
Kelli and I have been emailing back and forth and have settled on a day in august where we will go for a tour. She asked a little about Jack and what he likes and is taking the extra time to “Get a few things together to make it special.”
SHUT UP.
This is already special. They make transformers and rescue bots. These are the top two things he plays with at home and somehow sneaks into my car…..at times I find them in my bed. Under the covers. Some mysteries will never be solved. They make My Little Pony, which he loves very much. They make ALL THE MARVEL TOYS. The amount that he is going to love this experience will be calculated by how many things he wants to bring home and sleep with. Like everything he sees and touches. It will be such a special day for him, and it is all happening because he did something nice for someone. He opened this door, all by his little self. He was meant to meet mark that day, meant to make his day, and who knows who he will meet when we visit Hasbro, or in our future Starbucks adventures. I can’t wait to meet Kelli, and I will share as much of that special day as I can without giving away any Hasbro top secrets!
The moral of this story can be summed up in a few short bullet points:
- Coffee is life and can open doors for you.
- My child is amazing in more ways than can ever be counted.
- None of us know for certain that toys don’t come alive and just want to rest on a bob-o-pedic.
- We are VERY EXCITED for our trip to Hasbro.
*As usual, I will be posting this on my Facebook page, and on Jacks page. Please feel free to share either. If this grows it will be because people want to share it, not because I will be paying Facebook to boost any posts. I think thats icky and obnoxious, and the total opposite of why we are doing any of this.
Autism Squared 