We took Tom to church this morning, for the first time in several months, and the first time we had brought him to St. Mary’s. The start was very unpromising: When we picked him up at the group home he was crying. He had a cold and was obviously uncomfortable and unhappy. But after we got into the car he got better.

We got to church just before the service started, and as we went in I gave the rice cracker (substitute communion wafer–Tom is on a gluten free diet) to the Rector. I hate doing things like this; clergy have a lot to think about at the beginning of a service. However, it seemed to work out. Tom was pretty good during the service, although not perfectly quiet. We were in the front pew, and it did not seem to disturb the Rector. I am wondering if I dare listen to the recording of her sermon to find out if Tom can be heard in the background.

We stayed around for some of coffee hour afterwards, giving Tom the gluten free/casein free cookies mia_mcdavid had carefully packed. We were seated off by a window. One of our new friends there was running coffee hour and asked if she could bring us anything. I quickly explained Tom’s dietary limitations and she understood. There was a beautiful, and, I am sure, tasty cake on the other side of the room. For Tom, it would have been like eating opiates, but he does not understand this. Fortunately, he was not inclined to wander around today.

Afterwards we took Tom to lunch at a restaurant in his neighborhood–one of an endangered species–a cheap, but non-chain place. This went OK–Tom is really quite good about restaurants. He understands that if he just sits there, someone will bring him good food, and Mommy and Daddy are right there. My only fear is slow service, which was not a problem today.