Ever since he was a toddler and we found that autism would be part of Micah’s life journey, Micah’s birthday has been a somewhat bittersweet day. Sandwiched between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it has been a day to reflect on Micah’s past year and ponder his future. I always remind Micah that it is his birthday, but it is hard to know what he thinks about it, if anything.
As I have mentioned in past blogs, Micah is hard to buy gifts for as he does not like new things. In fact, he is the least materialistic person I have ever known. I literally have to make him put on new clothing purchased for him and make sure he does not try to take off the new clothes and sneak them in the hamper before he comes out of his room for breakfast. Likewise, we know that he enjoys watching movies, but new movies are not on his “choose list” until we have played them for him a few times, after which he may or may not decide that he likes them.
There is one thing that has proven to make him happy on his birthday and that is going out to one of his favorite places to eat. Thus, last week we gathered at a favorite restaurant for his birthday dinner. The place was packed, but Micah seemed relaxed and happy with his food despite the noise and activity around us. When it came time for dessert I said I wanted to order Micah a birthday dessert. His older brother Ben said he hoped that the restaurant staff would not come over and sing when they brought Micah’s birthday dessert out. I reminded Ben that Micah has always seemed to like to be sung to, in fact, when he was smaller he thought every birthday was his so we had extra candles for him to blow out after the real birthday person had the honor. I suggested that we could sing quietly to Micah to make him happy but not loud enough to create a scene that his more introverted older brother wished to avoid for him.
So when the waitress brought out Micah’s dessert, I quietly began to sing to Micah as she moved to place the dessert in front of him. The waitress and the rest of our table also joined in quietly, when suddenly around the crowded room the other diners stopped their conversations to join us in the birthday song, cheering and clapping for Micah at the end. An unexpected scene. The smile that spread across Micah’s face told us that this was probably the best part of his birthday, a gift that cost nothing, generously shared by family, friends, and strangers. A universal salute to another year lived and a celebration of the life that is his.
Jan Lessard Peightell December 8, 2021
PS Thank you to those of you who checked out Micah’s Micah James website last month. He actually sold out some items, thus, Micah and Melody have been busy creating new tie-dye creations to feature. We so appreciate your support! https://themicahjames.com/