Driving With the Avengers

“Turn on!”

Charlie says that to me as he hands me a CD; he then settles back into his seat, snug with the seatbelt fastened across his body, and waits, looking out of the corners of his eyes. We have one of those “hold 96 or so” CD cases—not that we have 96 CDs and if I did, they would not all be in the case. Charlie tends to take out the CDs he most likes and carry them around, and leave them aligned with the floorboards, so they are smudged and scraped. Jim and I have yet to figure out how he determines which to choose as Charlie is not yet able to read the labels. Colors seems to be a possible criterion; lately, Charlie has been choosing silver ones and we’ve been hearing the blues (”Dust My Broom“) and an old Smiths CD that takes me back a long way. But the CD that Charlie most consistently pulls out is…….. the soundtrack for the 1998 film of the 1960s TV show, The Avengers.

So there go Charlie and I in our black station wagon that has way too many miles on it, and a mess of books, unused Halloween decorations and an ice scraper in the trunk, down the highway, with grandiloquent music worthy of TV crimefighters blaring out of the car speakers. One starts to fell as if one is on a special mission and we kind of are—-off to a piano lesson or an ABA meeting or the grocery store. The music, loud and trumpeting, seems more the sort of thing to play in the background of some superhero (not me) speeding off in search of Bad Guys or at least adventure.

I truly enjoy these moments, with my (if you will) sidekick, Charlie, alert in the backseat. We don’t usually talk much except when he says the place of our destination (”Trader Joe’s!” “Go see Anne”) and I assure by answering, “Yes, we are going there.” The music and the motion are doing the talking at those moments: Feeling is in the air, plus we are visibly going someplace,  and Charlie likes to be on the move as much as possible. The first thing that he often says after being home for five minutes is “shoes on!”.

Come to think of it, since it is Charlie in the backseat choosing the music selections and giving me regular reminders about where we are going, I guess it might be more accurate to say that I’m the sidekick……

What we might be “avenging” is anyone’s guess, though it could be said some justice would be nice. Not to lay the blame on something or someone for causing Charlie to be autistic, but to seek more understanding from the world and to ask that world to provide Charlie with his due: The right education, dignity and respect, services and supports as he grows up and reaches for as much independence as he might. I guess you could say those are the things I, and Jim, with Charlie, are on a sort of mission for. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to say “mission accomplished” but in the mean time I am enjoying the adventure.

And some stirring music and a certain boy humming along sure do help.