Callie Ann is the adult daughter of a woman I worked with a long time ago in a land far away called Florida.  Now in her 40's, Callie Ann has Down's Syndrome.  She works at the sheltered workshop every day.  She takes care of her pet(s).  She listens to music, loudly, and loves to dance.  

Photos by Shadysheepie's Photostream on Flickr 
Pictures are of the lovely Tilly.

It seems that Callie Ann has an affinity for almost everyone. There are folks she doesn't take a shine to, but I suspect that I wouldn't either--she's a fine judge of character.  I feel honored to have called Callie Ann my friend.

One day a few years ago, while visiting with Callie and her mother, and relaxing in their backyard, Callie Ann sat down on my lap.  Now, this is no small feat.  She weighed at the time probably 250-275 lbs.  And while I'm not a small woman, this was a lot of love.  As I rubbed her back and laughed and talked with her, she asked me to scratch her head.  I did so with gusto.  And here's where the amazing part comes into this story.

Callie Ann's scalp moves all over her head! The feeling is hard to describe, but it's a little like rubbing unattached fur over a basketball--it just moves all over and around her skull.  And as she giggled and laughed and sang for me, I had a revelation: my scalp doesn't do that.

Now, I guess there could be several reasons for this phenomena.  But the one I'm going to focus on, is that Callie, while she encounters stressful situations in her life, basically carries none of that stress with her.  And is that why she's so loving?  Or is the reason that she has no stress because she is so loving?   I have no real insight into this...other than that, for the most part, Callie takes each day as it comes, looks forward to it and finds reasons to laugh and be mischievous all the time.  I like being around her!

So...here's the rub (ugh, couldn't help myself): almost everytime I wash my hair or have the occasion to scratch my head, I think of what Callie's scalp felt like, slipping around her skull with glee and abandon, free of the stress that keeps mine pretty much locked in place, orderly-like.

I want to be Callie Ann when I grow up.  For now, I measure my contentment and joy in how much my scalp moves around each morning with the aroma of lavender shampoo and hot water 'therapy'.  

Sometime, if any of you ask, I'll tell you a dream I had once about Callie Ann, in which she was a guide for me during a long, dark night on what seemed to be the dark side of the moon.