Normalcy

There's simply no denying Charlie's magic.   His impact on Tim is more and more evident every day.  We've all been charmed by him and when we take him out in public wearing his North Star "clothes" we are inundated with inquiries about him and his work with Tim.  But sometimes the thing I appreciate most about Charlie isn't what the North Star team has trained him to do for Tim.

This weekend was wonderfully low key with nothing but some local exploring, a great local hike (with Wendy the Trainer and her crew), and a Sunday spent assembling an Indiana Jones Lego set.   Charlie accompanied us for almost everything (we left him home during an exploration of San Francisco) and true to form, he expressed interest in anything that we happened to be doing.

On Sunday, as I watched my autistic son manipulating hundreds of microscopic lego pieces with his dad to his right and his dog to his left, I was struck by just how "normal" this looked.  A kid on a rainy afternoon playing with some legos.  I know, we're not talking Norman Rockwell here but just a few years ago this was a scene I could barely imagine.    

It's this feeling of "normalcy" that Charlie creates for us that I relish.  When Tim is with Charlie he's just a boy with his dog whether he's playing on the trampoline, ...

... watching airplanes at the local airport, ... 

... going for a good long walk ...

... or building Legos on a rainy day.  Tim always wants Charlie with him and Charlie doesn't seem to care what the chosen activity might be so long as he gets to be there, tagging along with Tim.   No judgment.  No sympathy.  No "A Club."  Just a boy and his dog.  Normal.