By Marcia Mickelson
This Friday, in San Antonio, we celebrate the Battle of the Flowers. Every April, there is a Battle of the Flowers parade in memory of the fallen heroes at the Alamo and to commemorate the victory at the Battle of San Jacinto.
We've never been to the parade before. In fact, we don't really do parades. Since my oldest son was a baby, loud noises really have bothered him. When he was one we went to a small, town parade, and the band playing really set him off. He started screaming and wanted to get out of there. We left right away. We tried going to see fireworks, but it was always the hysterical screaming. We took him to a BYU football game, and even the noise there was too much. He hated the vacuum, blender, hairdryer. All of those noises made him cry. From early on, we could tell that he had sensory issues, and it sort of threw up red flags that would eventually lead to his diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome.
Thankfully, he has overcome a lot of those sensory issues and loud noises don't bother him as much anymore. We still haven't gone to any fireworks shows, but I'm just glad we don't have to drive an hour out of the city each New Year's Eve when our neighbors do fireworks, like we used to. He's okay with just staying at home now. In fact, last Fourth of July, we even did some fireworks ourselves, and he was fine. Such a huge step for him.
Well, I was happily surprised when he suggested we go to the parade this year. That's huge for him. He's come so far. So, I spent all morning driving around the city tracking down tickets for the parade on Friday. I'm thinking it will go well. For us, it's not just a parade, it's a huge step.
5 comments:
Wonderful progress! I jump in my seat in the theater when a "prop" gun is "shot." I know it's coming but I can't help it. And when we'd go to USU football games and the cannons would go off when USU scored, I'd just about leap out of my seat, too. So I sympathize with your son! We had to keep one of our dogs inside during games, the cannons terrified her so (we live close to USU). I'm so glad your son is growing and dealing with these challenges!
Marcia, that's wonderful!
How great that your son is making such strides!
Two things popped out at me from your post. First, the photo. It features wonderful Mexican dancing. I had to laugh, because isn't the parade celebrating people who died at the hands of Mexican soldiers and then Texans who overcame them in a battle? Just kind of struck me as strange, but wonderful, at the same time.
The second thing is, how do you control things so much that you can issue tickets to a parade? Don't people just come and stand at the side of the road?
Just curious.
Marsha, funny observation. I'm not so sure how it works. Our tickets have row & seat numbers. There are chairs and bleachers set up on the sides of the row. I guess people could just come and stand or bring their own chairs. I did see some tents set up under the freeway by the street. Maybe people are camping out to have good spots. I'll let you know how it went. It is all a bit weird.
I'd like to start off by saying good for your son.
What I really had to say was that I was at that parade...well, I was actually in it. My band, the Texas State Bobcat Marching Band, was invited to head the school bands. It was a great experience.
And a side note: The Battle of Flowers parade is basically celebrating two battles. One where the Texans were defeated and the other where we overcame our adversaries. The point is, it's Texas; it doesn't have to make sense.
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