Party Invitation

Last week, Christopher received his first-ever party invitation from outside his family circle. The irony is that it's from our local cerebral palsy organisation. He was so excited that it made my heart ache. Here he is, nine years old, and he has never been invited to a friend's party - basically because kids his age are simply not ready to befriend someone who doesn't speak clearly and is in a wheelchair.

Thinking about this late last night, I tried to come up with an alternative way for him to be friends with someone his own age. I thought that perhaps a penpal arrangement might work - especially if they could use a chat program. Christopher could speak to me, I could type for him, and that way he could chat with a friend without the limitations of speech standing in his way. It's something I will pursue, because it's not fair for him to miss out on this as well as everything else.

Mind you, Christopher himself has never expressed a feeling of missing out on having friends his own age. He says he is "rich" because he has such a loving extended family. He also counts a number of adults as his special friends - notably J. and R. He talks about his friends at school as well, but there's no-one in his class that would invite him to their birthday party. I guess a penpal might not be able to invite him to parties either, but it might still create a new level of friendship with someone his own age.