{"id":1301,"date":"2017-09-22T10:24:17","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T15:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/?p=1301"},"modified":"2018-05-15T09:51:34","modified_gmt":"2018-05-15T14:51:34","slug":"whats-his-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/whats-his-name\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s His Name?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a gorgeous day. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wind was blowing the tall pines shading the playground. I could hear the laughter and smell the aroma of food from the family reunion being held at a gazebo nearby. I hoped for an invitation to eat their fried chicken, potato salad, and casseroles of all kinds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe around 11 years old, a little boy sat on a swing in the mainly deserted playground. With his smart device in hand, he used his feet to swing just a bit as he played his game. He seemed to enjoy the alone space away from the festive reunion, but, there was also a loneliness in his eyes. <\/span><\/p>\n

My son, Asher, and I played on the little kids playground before making our way over to the big kid playground. On the way over, I noticed Asher looking back towards the swings. He was curious about the little boy with the smart phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Realizing the obstacles on this playground were steep and above his skill level, Asher decided to walk over to the swing next to the boy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d Asher asked me. <\/span><\/p>\n

I responded, \u201cI don\u2019t know his name. Ask him!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJake,\u201d said the little boy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Asher signed and asked me if the little boy was playing \u201cbirds\u201d (any smart device). I told him he was. Asher watched him play on the phone a while, and then decided to swing. There were few engagements between the 2 boys. Both seemed perfectly happy to simply be present.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it was time to go, and Asher turned around and smiled at the little boy. The little boy smiled back.  <\/span>I smiled and told the little boy to have a good day, and Asher and I headed to my Dad\u2019s truck.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d is a common question in my world. Asher is deeply curious about who people are. The conversations are scripted as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

Asher: \u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Me: \u201cI don\u2019t know his\/her name.\u201d (He understands gender differences, but \u201cher\u201d is not easy for him to say.)<\/span><\/p>\n

What happens next is dependent on the time we have to continue. If time permits, I will tell him, \u201cI don\u2019t know. Ask!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Turning to the new person of interest\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Asher: \u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d (\u201cYour\u201d is also a hard word for him to say.)<\/span><\/p>\n

He does not care what color someone is, what they are wearing, if they smell or not\u2026nothing. All are vulnerable to the \u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d game.<\/span><\/p>\n

The responses from people are interesting. Some don\u2019t understand what was said, some smile, and others engage the conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve yet to figure out the formula to the ones who engage this conversation, but goodness is a common thread. It is hard to ignore this cute little boy with big blue eyes and crazy hair.<\/span><\/p>\n

I used to think miracles were rare, but, now, I see them everyday. From a middle-aged man smoking a cigarette in front of the gas station to the war torn lady behind the counter at the restaurant, the power of kindness and curiosity breaks through and wins. <\/span><\/p>\n

In one question, \u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d, hearts open and take a deep breath\u2026if only for a moment.  <\/span>Asher meets people in sad situations and leaves them with a smile. He also reminds them that they have a name and someone cares enough to want to know it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, all folks really need is a good moment. Sometimes, people just want to know they are not invisible. <\/span><\/p>\n

The little boy in the swing smiled as we walked away. He somehow looked happier. Refreshed. I knew why.<\/span><\/p>\n

He played the \u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d game, and he did not feel alone anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a gorgeous day. Wind was blowing the tall pines shading the playground. I could hear the laughter and smell the aroma of food from the family reunion being held at a gazebo nearby. I hoped for an invitation to eat their fried chicken, potato salad, and casseroles of all kinds. Maybe around 11 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,43,70,69,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autism","category-courage","category-gratefulness","category-mindfulness","category-motherhood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1301"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2409,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301\/revisions\/2409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autumncalvert.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}