By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Presque Isle Kiwanis Club’s first-ever Polar Express event — the brainchild of Kathie Beaulieu, who said she came up with the idea while vacationing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with family last summer — proved to be a magical moment for many participants, but especially for an Easton family who’s son had an particularly memorable moment with Santa.
“Our son’s name is Garrett. He’s 4. He was diagnosed a year and a half ago with autism, and at that time was almost completely nonverbal. In the past year he has grown in leaps and bounds due to the help of numerous therapists and his integration into the Easton pre-K program, with the help of a one-on-one aide,” said his mother, Maeghan Sheehan Swanson, who took the train ride with Garrett, her husband, Matthew, and their 5-year-old daughter, Kaeleigh.
Swanson said they weren’t sure how Garrett would do in this situation because social outings can be stressful, to say the least.
“Some days are good days, and some not so much; we tend to just keep moving through the hard ones and take notes for more successes in the future. Being that Thomas the Train is Garrett’s favorite toy, we were not worried about him liking the train, but rather worried about how he would do with the crowd,” she said.
Swanson said she spoke with Beaulieu the day before and had explained that waiting in line can sometimes be very difficult for Garrett and the crowds can overwhelm him.
“I asked if there was any way we could either board first or last to ease him into the outing. She assured me that they would help us out, and sure enough, Saturday morning they had us board before they moved the train up to the crowd. They not only allowed us to board early, they seated us in the car that most of the crowd was not immediately entering into, which also greatly helped,” she said.
She said she couldn’t express in words how grateful she was for such a simple gesture on the part of Kiwanis members.
“Those extra moments they took to accommodate Garrett will never be forgotten. Sometimes I like to refer to people like Kathie as the ones that ‘get it’ — they understand and are sympathetic to the special needs of our child, and the compassion they have just comes through their actions,” Swanson said.
She said she appreciates them “more than they’ll ever know.”
As the adventure unfolded, Swanson realized something magical was happening.
“As soon as he heard the whistle and the train started, his smile never left his face. Both of our children, my husband and myself were thrilled with the trip — start to finish. The effort that was put into how well the trip was planned was amazing — from the hot chocolate, accompanied by song and dance, to the Christmas carols and cookies, to the gift bags for the children, and the Christmas bingo, the trip was a true joy to experience,” she said.
Although she considered the ride a success up to that point, Swanson soon found out an even more magical experience would unfold between her son and Santa.
“As soon as Santa entered the train car, Garrett’s eyes were fixated on the man in the red suit. He started jumping up and down, chanting ‘Santa, Santa,’ much to our surprise,” said Swanson, who noted they talk with Garrett about Santa but it was not until that moment that they fully saw just how much he truly understood about him.
“Santa stopped to say hello and gave both our children bells, then proceeded to visit with all the children in the car. At this point, Garrett stood up on his seat and yelled ‘Santa, come back. Come on, Santa,’” said his mother.
She said her son bounced up and down on his seat until Santa made his return visit, right before he was about to leave.
“Garrett immediately wanted to hug him and wrapped right around Santa. My husband and I were taken aback to say the least, since getting hugs ourselves from Garrett can be work at times. Garrett very rarely hugs anyone, let alone a complete stranger, so that moment was equally as thrilling,” said Swanson.
As Santa left the car, Garrett looked at his parents and said “I love Santa,” clutching his new bell tightly in his hands.
“Garrett has never been one of many words, and most speech comes prompted from ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions that we pose to him. When we have the breakthrough moments of him initiating words, it is truly amazing,” said Swanson, adding, “what made it even more amazing is that we were not really sure how much he understood about Christmas and Santa as a whole, since he does not outwardly talk about these things.”
“The joy and happiness this Polar Express brought to both our children cannot be described in words — and we can never fully thank the Kiwanis Club of Presque Isle for all that they did. It truly was a magical day, one that we’ll never forget,” she said.
The Swansons had a second chance for Garrett to see Santa when the Jolly Old Elf appeared in Saturday’s Light Parade. One of Santa’s elves had tipped off the family that it would be an opportunity to get Garrett’s letter to the man in the red suit, just in time for Christmas. Much to the family’s surprise, Santa acknowledged Garrett by name as he passed them downtown.
“My husband was able to get Garrett right to Santa as he passed by State Street. It was awesome to hear Garrett yelling ‘Hi, Santa!’ and then Santa calling out ‘Hello, Garrett.’ Matt was even able to get the letter to him,” said Swanson.
Swanson said Garrett’s talked a little about his train trip, but it comes from asking him questions, not any sort of initiated conversation on his part.
“That is why that day and moment are so amazing. There was no prompting, no questions, just pure joy pouring out of him,” said Swanson, who hopes Garrett’s story might give other parents, dealing with autism, hope.
“Perhaps they’ll find hope that although it seems so hard at times, these moments will come. Their child will develop and grow and they will bring you into their own world. Don’t be afraid to enter your child’s world, because it is a beautiful place,” said Swanson.
For anyone looking for support or to talk about autism, Swanson invites all interested to join the Facebook page Aroostook Autism Support.
“We are starting meetings this week and every first Tuesday of each month from 6-7 p.m. at the Presque Isle library,” said Swanson.
(A story on the Kiwanis Club’s fund-raising Polar Express ride and more photos will appear in next week’s issue of the newspaper.)
