I want you to know!: The WAVE!

After my disabled son, Nat left home at 18 years of age, we delighted in some of the lifestyle options that were afforded him. Special Olympics (swimming and bowling), attending sports, biking, camping (like he had with our family), and even dance events.

Segregation was been the rule more often than not, but Nat's unique "spirit" and enthusiasm has allowed him to successfully integrate into communities of people from time to time. This is a story about one of those times...

Nat's WAVE!
As a young child living in Calgary during the Olympics of 1988, Nat must have absorbed the crowd excitement of televised activities more than I had realized. We'd watched the opening ceremonies,

the athletes...

many of the actual sporting events and amid it all Calgary became famous for their WAVE!

For those not familiar with the Olympic Wave, it's a crowd action whereby in a succession of crowd motions, an audience raises their hands or raises objects, and then lowers them creating a synchronized wave motion repeatedly for minutes in celebration of a success by a team or competitor.

Nathan played "wave" with his siblings from the sofa during the televised events and then years later had a recall of the pleasure of such group dynamics and excitment.

How it happend!

One of Nat's residential care home providers included semi-pro baseball league game attendance in his recreation schedule. And while our family wasn't aware of it, Nat gained a reputation for cheering the home team by initiating the WAVE by attendees in the ballpark stands. The residential family left the area and we Nat moved to another home, but his baseball league attendance did follow.

It seems a period of time later, ballpark administration realized the spirit of the games had changed. When they began to investigate the history of the decline in crowd enthusiasm, they were told the drop in excitement co-incided with the fact a young dependent adult man had stopped coming to the games. It took a while, but eventually Nathan was identified and located. He and his new caregivers were invited to attend the games without a fee, and if that was not sufficient to evidence his influence on the baseball games, they gifted him with their sincere recognition of what he contributed to the sport.

His first game back at the field, Nat was brought down to the in-field given a team jersey, a hat and then was told to run the bases. The crowd cheered and gave him the WAVE! I nearly cry each time I think about it.

He can't tell us the story and allow it to grow by the telling, but after it was told to me, I determined to tell it as often as possible. I've wanted people who feel they lack talents/gifts or skills to hear how a young intellectually impaired adult, who couldn't speak in sentences and needs daily supervision could make a difference in the lives of so many people - relative strangers.

Nat didn't just make a difference in the lives of his family members, or his friends and associates (although he does), but he made a difference amid hundreds of people who didn't know him, except for valuing his enthusiasm. They enjoyed how he shared his joy. He found a way to connect with crowds, bring them together and direct them to do something uplifting and positive. He used his influence!

We can be of positive influence just like Nathan is. We can smile in elevators, say hello to people on the street, give up our seat on a bus to someone other than a senior, let the person behind us at the check out move ahead of us... We can let people know we love life and our joy will spread and infect more people than we can imagine.

We don't have to be important and impressive to influence others... take a peek...