Winter's Coming

I'm a little late. Saturday was three days ago...

Ah well. Blame Leigh for getting me a new puzzle game for my computer.

Today I found myself in need of a trip to Kroger. Not for the social value, but for the oranges. Nothing like going to make an orange cake and finding out we have no oranges. As I was leaving, I met Fred coming in from his usual job of gathering carts. Fred and I have talked before, usually every time we meet. The reason is probably this: Fred has Down's Syndrome. Every time I see him, I see Trust. So I find myself smiling all of a sudden because it's like seeing my little brother walk by and Fred sees me smiling at him and smiles back. So now we talk when I meet him bringing the carts in or bagging groceries.

Today I smiled and he said, "Hi!" so I said, "Hi Fred!"

"Hey, how'd you know my name?" he demanded.

"Because some days you wear a name tag and I remember you," I said. "You look just like my little brother."

"So what's your name?" he asked.

"Michelle."

"Hm. Michelle."

"It's pretty cold outside, isn't it?" I said. He was wearing a hat and had obviously been out a while.

"Sure is! It's getting to be that cold time of year again," he said. "It's not summer anymore."

"Nope, Winter's coming fast. We were going to play tennis today but it's just too cold and windy."

"Your fingers would get cold," he agreed. "First you have summer and it's warm, then you have winter for a while and then summer comes again." He looked around. "I think I better go. I have stuff to do."

"See you later," I said.

Do you know what the most interesting thing is about having these conversations? I can't shake the impression that I'm talking to Trust. Fred is probably about my age, but he has all Trust's expressions, the same way of tilting his head, the same smile. I'm sure he looks as much like his family as Trust looks like ours, but somehow that wacky chromosome has changed things until he looks more like my brother than I do.