I said goodbye to a long time client earlier this year, after working with him for over 3 years.
On our last day we wrote a social story about saying goodbye. We took turns filling in the pages; I’d write a sentence, he’d write a sentence. And he got to draw all the pictures. This was our story….
*His name, and the names of his other therapists have been taken out.
It was the perfect way to end our time together: with a story. He even got a kick out of drawing the picture of me with tears. When I wrote “Angelina would miss ___” He looked at me and asked, “Angelina is sad?” I told him, “Yes, it’s sad to say goodbye”. He proceeded to laugh hysterically. He thought it was great to draw me crying. *Shaking my head*
Anyways…9 months after our last session, I saw this client again last week. He attended my company’s client Christmas party. I saw him from behind and couldn’t believe how big he had gotten. I tapped him and exclaimed, “Hi ___!!!!” He turned around, looked at me, and without hesitation he said, “Hi Angelina.”
He remembered me!!!!
I was sooooo happy he remembered me. Without a pause, he knew right away who I was. I gave him a huge hug and told him I missed him and that he was so big.
It was really great to see him again, and I was so glad to see he still knows who I am. After spending so many years together, I would expect him to know who I am. But, you never know with our kiddos what they might recall and what they might not. It was an awesome run-in. And, he has no idea how special it was for me to see him again and have him remember me like it was just yesterday that we worked together 🙂
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