I was having a work break on the back door step and enjoying the sun on Tuesday afternoon when a young man rounded the corner of the house. I jumped and he apologised. He then asked, “Is Daniel home?”
I recognised the man. My son Daniel went to primary school with him: they were in the same year.
I called Daniel outside and the man gave him a hug, then handed him a black vest with lots of white images and logos. He said, “Someone ordered it, but it’s in the wrong size, so Merry Christmas: it’s yours. I hope it fits.”
Daniel replied, “Wow. I love it!”
I thanked the young man very much for the kind thought and he left with a cheery wave after giving Daniel another hug. I didn’t know at the time what the vest was. There is a local garment and printing business and I thought perhaps the vest came from there. But… no.
The back story: Daniel (19) has Down syndrome. Although he was mainstreamed at primary school, at high school he was segregated to a ‘learning support unit’. However, over the last year, he’s been able to interact more with his mainstream year in the common room and he has loved being able to share his love of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) with them, regularly taking 30 to 40 figurines to school. He can name each one and frequently writes long lists of their names. He’s an absolute fan. I, on the other hand, have no interest: if I manage to get one WWE name right, it’s a fluke.
The vest Daniel was gifted is official WWE-branded merchandise (worth in the hundreds of dollars). I had looked at buying Daniel some T-shirts from the American site, but the sizing didn’t make sense (even with an inch tape measure) so I didn’t risk it. The vest fits Daniel perfectly and he didn’t take it off for the rest of the day. He knows exactly which wrestler is depicted in the slogans.
I later messaged the young man’s mother to thank him and whoever else was involved in deciding to give the vest to Daniel. She came back to me after relaying my message and said her son’s response was, “Awww, yay!”
It was a very generous gift and it made my son’s day.
