At the age of 67 I asked my self what do I remember about Tony.
When we lived in colorado Tony was born on August 7 1961. At the end of a long hot summer.
For twenty nine years I knew where he was and who had him. I guess you could say we were a pair like my hands and my feet. I never knew what his next adventure would be. In so many ways he was very smart. And in others he was very child like. Tony would have been a high functioning Downs Syndrome child if he would have had better health. He was not an angel and he was not a devil. He was just a child and people loved him and he loved every one. When he was 9 after long battles with the school board Tony was able to go to school in Gunnison. Mary McIntosh was his bus driver and care taker. She drove him and all the other handicap children from the valley to school then stayed all day as the teachers aid then drove them all back home again. It took 45 minutes going and 45 minutes coming back. This she did for five years. She was their buddy. Then Connie Thalman took over. the families of the handicap did fun things together. One time we went to SLC to the Ice capadies. There was a bunch of us and we went on the bus. Grandma Jones and we took Cindy as a baby with Christa a little older. The thing Tony and I liked the best was the music. There was a special number and it was "Send in the Clowns" that seemed so fitting for us. We watched a beautiful girl glide across the ice in a gown fit for an angel. Her graceful moves with the music made memories for us forever. We did several trips like this and each one made memories for us all.
Mother would accompany me most of the times. We had some special experiences. Isn't it amazing that we can have a mother and a grandmother that can continue to give us support even beyond our and their years on this earth.
One time we were returning from the circus in the Salt Palice . We were all on a buss with the normal kids from the school. So there were the Special Needs Kids mixed with the normal kids from the school in Gunnison with the parents. We were all on the buss headed home and some of the students started singing funny little songs. It was just so crazy. then it got to be just tony and and Brenda a special girl from Salina. They started singing this same song over and over. They sang in such an off key monotone and we could not get them to stop. I would get "Tony to stop then Brenda would keep all the others singing then when Brenda's mom could get Brenda to stop Tony would start in over again. this went on all the way home until Brenda got off in "Salina. Everyone was holding their heads. What made it so funny was Their broken language and flat sounds were sung with all the joy like they were the "Tabernacle Choir".
Thanks Mom,
Love Leila
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