I would love to pass along a special story about our trip last year,
We took our Autistic (then) 4 year old son (who is the biggest Star Wars fan - he hums Darth Vaders theme music) and our (then) 1 1/2 year old son. I planned our trip with the Star Wars weekend as the highlight of our trip and it was!
When we got there, there were Storm Troopers on top of the ticket sales counters with music and skits piped in. My son stopped dead in his tracks. He tugged on my shirt and looked up at me with the largest grin I have ever seen on his face. He was jumping up and down and flapping his hands (an autistic trait). My eyes were filled with tears. We tried to move past the gates, but he was content in staying there.
Finally after prying him away, we went to find Jedi Mickey, we were lucky that we were one of the first in line! Mickey had hugs all around and my son was more than willing. The best part of the day came at the parade. My son's favorite character is Jango Fett. While all of the character were passing by, my son saw in the distance, Jango coming up. He was jumping up and down and flapping his hands a mile a minute. We were in the front, with no one in front of us, so I was afraid that my son was going to run over to him, but he stayed with us. As Jango approached, he saw my son, stopped and turned towards him and gave him a nod with his head and gun, that alone would have been the world to my son but he then walked over (he was on the other side of the parade) and shook my sons hand. Even now thinking about what a sweet gesture that was, and how it was everything to my son, overwhelms me. My husband was snapping away with the camera up until then but stopped when he saw Jango approach, he too was startled that this person was going out of their way. Words cannot express what a moment that was for our son. The whole day we have never seen him, so connected to us and what was going on around him.
We later found Jango on one of the backlot streets having pictures taken with fans, while my son was having his picture taken I asked if he was the one in the parade, he nodded his head and I thanked him for his special act. I told him that while he may not have thought much about what he did, that it was an extrordinary moment for our son and how grateful we were.
To this day when we look at our album, my son will point at the picture, smile a big smile and say "Jango" and I know exactly what he means....
It brought tears to my eyes.
