Connection

So we went to a birthday party for one of Chase's friends. I met a woman. She made an amazing connection with Chase. Really amazing. It is hard to articulate the details, but I'll give it a shot.

Early on, Chase loved puzzles. Chase has been fascinated by numbers and patterns lately. She turns everything into a pattern. Weather, music, food, hair-dos, eating -- everything is a pattern. She also counts. A lot. All kinds of things. She can do simple math in her head. At just 4 1/2, she can tell you that if there were 9 cupcakes and 3 people, that each person would get three cupcakes. I'm not sure how much is talent and how much is gift and how much is normal, but I do know she has a special relationship with patterns, numbers and shapes.

So I have been asking people if they know people who are good with numbers and patterns. And I finally found a lady. She was at the party. She sat right down and started talking to Chase. About shapes. So here is a snippet from their conversation... Lady: What shape do you like most (Chase: triangles), why? (they have three), do you count points or sides (points), how many points does a door have (four), how many points do two doors have (eight), three doors? (eleven. wait, I have to recount), and how does it feel when you get it wrong (sad), and if you get it right? (happy) so what do you do (recount until it's right), do numbers make you feel safe(yes). And how do you count cats? (four) Yes there are four letters - woman told me she would eventually count by strokes made to write the letters. And the woman told me she would eventually start counting by threes or by fours, or by both. That it wasn't uncommon for a child to relate to a shape, but it was uncommon for a child to be able to express it and be connected with it the way Chase was... and she was really impressed when she asked Chase the cupcake question and Chase answered without even taking a moment to count. She said Chase will need things to be "just so," corners in place, etc, because otherwise her brain will not be able to stop. She said from what she saw Chase will need to figure out a way to find a conclusion to her pattern search (this woman, it turns out, is a counter - she counts everything, sides of windows, tires on cars, everything).

I am so happy to have met this woman. I am so grateful for finding someone who not only understands Chase in this way, but I just have a very good feeling that this woman will be a very important woman in Chase's life. And I don't even know her. But Chase really, really connected with her.