Rain Man

Remember the movie Rain Man? I remember seeing it in the theatre and I couldn't wait for it to come out on video so my mom would watch it...Dad too. It came out when I was in college, studying to be a special ed teacher. That movie brought alot of awareness to the autistic world. I loved that movie, I couldn't wait for Mom to sit down and watch it with everyone in our family. So....we rent the movie and we all get situated and start it. Not even half way through the movie, Mom gets up and goes to the kitchen...gets something to drink, comes back and sits down...then gets up again, and does something else. To say that I was irritated is not the word I would use. She does this throughout the rest of the movie. I follow her to the kitchen and asked her, in a not so nice way, why she wasn't watching the movie....it was so good and on and on. She took one look at me and I will never forget the tone, or her words to me. She said, "I lived it, I don't need to watch it!" Ouch!!!!! I can honestly say that I had no idea. I was 20 years old and thought I knew so much. Mom did not watch the rest of the movie. I understood why and I didn't condemn her for it. I understood.

I remember when Lisa worked at ODC, a place where people with disabilities worked, that one her jobs was to walk around a table and assemble pens. She did this for weeks. She got paid by the number of pens she put together. She got let off from the bus at the store and someone asked her how work was that particular day. Lisa's reply, "I walked around that table 317 times and I get so damn sick of it" LOL! We all laughed, but Lisa wasn't laughing. I don't remember the exact number, but it was up there...and she probably did walk around it that many times. Like Rain Man, or Raymond...Lisa has her set ways, don't try to deviate from them either. She has to watch Wheel of Fortune at 6:30; needs to go to bed at a certain time; wears short sleeves up until Thanksgiving and only then will she wear long sleeves; goes to Parkview on certain days to eat...will not go there on off days. She walked to Hardee's or South Hill Cafe and ordered the same exact thing every single time, no need to try something different. She goes to the bathroom at certain times too, if it is 15 min prior to the set time in her head, she will wait.

As I remember all of this, I totally get what Mom said to me so many years ago...I lived it. I am not able to go back and reread this blog just yet. I can't. It hurts. It is still fresh my heart. I am thankful that my sisters are writing on here too. I am thankful that Amy encouraged me to start this blog so that we could share Lisa's life with whoever reads this. Rain Man is still one of my favorite movies, it reminds me of Lisa. I know that one day, I will sit down and reread what has been written...but I think it will take a very, very long time. That is OK.