Awareness and Empathy

Tegumailagi love the company of Ta and Nau and the idea of staying indoors was a dream come true. Smiling as he woke up to start with his morning routine as he excitedly exclaimed “No socks No Shoes” his Ta replied “no school today boy”. I turned to face him, he ran over to give me hug, and I held on to him a little bit longer this time. Weeks before they were learning to wash their hands thoroughly singing the “happy birthday song”. Everytime his Ta and I was to wash our hands he would be stood there singing the happy birthday song till the end to make sure our hand washing was thorough. All the jigsaws and colouring books were out this was a Party for Tegu. He loved staying indoors so isolation was his prayers answered. In the evening we were to be going to town later for grocery shopping as always it’s a chore to get him out the frontdoor. We tend to do our shopping in bulk monthly. This means less hassle for Tegu and no disturbed weekend routine. We could already sense that this was going to be a struggle for us. All grocery shops by now only allowed things to be bought in multiples of three at it’s maximum. Tegumailagi’s diet was very limited to only bread and potatoe waffles or Mcoys cheese and onion crisps this is for all three meals the same thing everyday. An empty waffles fridge and not a cheese and onion Mcoys crisp in sight. To the bread isle I clocked the sliced bread. This was the very last packet of sliced bread. The closer I got the further away from the bread I was. It seemed like every person was pushing their trolley in the direction of the bread shelf. Reached for the Bread “i thought wait for it Lini” then spoke a very warm but fragile little old lady from behind her trolley, “ be a kind dear and kindly pass me a packet of slice bread up there please young lady” i took that last one which I was reaching for and gave her it she smiled with a “thank you” and left. A tsunami of emotion overwhelmed me. As it’s always mentioned in the Army “you got to look after number 1(look after yourself) but this was the exact opposite of what was going on here. I smiled with tears filling up in my eyes and walked away with an empty trolley,confused but morally satisfied with that act of kindness inside the supermarket. Walking towards Tegumailagi and his Ta who were waiting patiently for me at the carpark. They knew that it was not a successful shopping trip as I entered the car trying to keep it together wiping away tears from my face. Then to the last of the many grocery shops in our local area we went, we entered hoping for bread or potatoe waffles the same situation. Fridges were bare. Stop worrying Lini get your act together today is a good day, Yes I was reassuring myself. Walked up casually to the lady that was sorting out the frozen delivery “ excuse me sorry to be a bother but when will potatoe waffles delivery be in ? “this was the most important question of the day. She smile and said “its at the back, I will have to get you it bear with me”. This was a magical day in every sense. An extremely powerful intuitive and awareness of the humane thought process of empathy. Yes, we might have different obstacles in life, Don’t seize in doing unto others what you want others to do unto you. Don’t ever think that your little act of kindness goes unnoticed. An act of kindness can forster a connection with other people during their times of bleakness. Empathy is definitely the way forward for Autism Awareness. Don’t give up on progress or hope, let your everyday be an adventure to discovering your strength. Stay safe, keep loving and keep discovering. Love n Prayers