ILLY: Maypoles, Mothers, & Mayflower

Maypoles, Mothers and the Mayflower It was a very beautiful midweek day of the first week in May and Mr. ILLY, the well known DeafBlind Clown, was walking down a not so busy street of Bookerfield, MD, where he was visiting his friend, Arby Dantoole. Arby had been busy packing because he was moving from the East Coast back to his hometown of Laffville, LA. Arby was in need of a break from packing so the two friends had agreed to go walking to enjoy the late morning sunshine. They were walking past a school where children were gathered some 300 yards or so from the street. They were standing around a wooden pole with different colored ribbons flowing down from the top. There were about ten ribbons hanging down and each ribbon was held by a child. There were about thirty children who were divided into teams rotating with walks and dances around the maypole. The children seemed to be having fun! Then one little girl spotted Mr. ILLY and Arby and walked over to them. Upon learning the two friends were deaf the little girl started showing off her skill of fingerspelling, much to the delight of Mr. ILLY and Arby. She invited the two to join her and the other children in the maypole dance and they accepted. Mr. ILLY seemed to have the most fun as he was really into dancing and laughing as a clown would in his trots around the maypole. Time went by so fast that it was soon time for the children to go back into the school to prepare to go home. Good-byes were said all around with many of the children hugging Mr. ILLY because he had helped make their day a wonderful one. Mr. ILLY and Arby returned to Arby's place so Arby could continue his chore of packing in preparation to be ready for his mother and father who were coming up from Laffville to pick up Arby and his stuff and get him back home, where he belonged! The plan was to leave Bookerfield on the weekend of May 8th, arriving home the morning of May 9th, which everyone knew was Mother's Day. We all need to remember our mothers on their special day, knowing how hard they worked to bring us all into the world and raising us to become the best we can become. Mr. ILLY planned to remember his mother, even though she had passed away four years ago. He planned to spend some time refreshing his memory thinking of how she had done so much for him, including letting him develop his sense of humor and make her laugh. He planned to make her laugh on her special day so that he could enjoy being with her spiritually. One thing Mr. ILLY planned to ask his mother was, "Hey Mom, how is the kitchen in God's House?" This was a reference to his mother's work preparing so many great meals in her earthly kitchen! As for Arby Dantoole and what he planned to do for his mother, well, he would be with her on the trip back home and upon arriving home it was obviously the family would go celebrate at a restaurant. On the trip from Laffville, LA Arby's parents were taking the Mayflower and sailing through the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida, and on up the Atlantic seaboard to MD. It would be a long trip but they believed they could do it and be just fine. As he packed, Arby remarked that his parents were on their way in the Mayflower as he spoke. He then said, "Hey, its a great ship in top shape!" "My Dad is a great helmsman and he will do good keeping the Mayflower on course!" Now, Arby had told some of his friends in Bookerfield that he was going home on the Mayflower. These friends were eager to see the ship for themselves. So when they heard from Arby that his parents were there to pick him up on the morning of May 8th, they were all at his place to meet his parents whom they assumed had rented a car and drove from the harbor. Some friends asked his Dad how the trip had gone and wondered if he had gotten into any rough seas on the trip. Arby, started laughing at his friend's remarks about the ship and said pointing toward a big moving truck, "Hey guys," Arby said laughing hard, "the Mayflower is sitting over yonder!" Written By: Mr. ILLY, the DeafBlind Clown April 29, 2010

 

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