"The Boy in the Moon" Blog

A) At the beginning of Chapter eleven in the novel, "The Boy in the Moon", there is a quote by Ian Brown, the author, “As long as someone will love him everyday.” (Pg.184) I think this means that he is thinking about the type of place that would be the best for Walker, where he will be loved and taken care of if anything should happen to him and his wife (Johanna).

In 2008 Ian Brown received a letter from Jean-Louis Munn who was the communications director of Canada’s L’Arche division. L’Arche is an organization that began in France and has communities all over the world for disabled people. It started in 1964 in a small house in France by Jean Vanier. Ian Brown was invited to Verdun, a small city in Montreal to see L’Arche first-hand in a church basement. Once he arrived there he was very impressed with the church mass because it “was unlike any I’d ever seen – more along the lines of a village meeting in a pub over a raucous meal…”
(Pg.187) He also liked how it was a little bit of church with focus on other things as well, such as music to make it entertaining. Ian Brown loved how there were enough L’Arche assistants so that there was, “one for every two residents.” (Pg.189). He liked how they were referred to as residents instead of disabled peoples because it makes them sound more like they belong. Ian Brown saw that their life was slower and simpler and even with delays and problems no one took them seriously.

After he went to Montreal, he visited France so he could find a meaningful way for Walker to live after he was gone. While in France he met with the creator of L’Arche, Jean Vanier. Listening to Jean Vanier talk about his life story he heard that when he first started out he would visit the prisons and pray with the inmates and guards and by the end you couldn’t tell who was who. They lived side-by-side equals. Vanier said that’s what L’Arche would later become, people standing side-by-side no matter who they were. Through these trips Ian Brown begins to see visions of what Walker’s future could be.

When I went to L’Arche a couple weeks ago I wasn’t expecting much but this quote by Jean Vanier in the book summed my experience up. “The language of people with disabilities is the language of fun.” (Pg.205) I had a great time being around the residents and also singing along to songs with them. One of my favorite parts of the night is how one of the L’Arche residents got so into a song he said, “one more time” so that we could sing the song all together again. Another great part of the night was when we all prayed and one by one each resident would say whom they prayed for. Most of them prayed for their friends, family and assistants but some of them even prayed for us because they appreciated us coming along to join in with them.


B) One thing that I learned about living with a profoundly disabled child is that even though they cannot talk to you, you can still communicate with them in other ways. The way that Ian Brown did this is by clicking and clapping. “Hello it’s me, I’m clicking to you, and only you, because only you and I speak Click.” (Pg.34)
Before L’Arche I thought I would be uncomfortable around disabled people because I didn’t know how to act around them but I saw that I shouldn’t be worried about it because we all had fun. Another thing I learned is that not everyone is profoundly disabled, with some disabled people you can’t even tell. I learned that we take simple things for granted, like brushing our teeth where in Walker’s world he has to go and have an operation to get his teeth cleaned which takes hours. One of the last things I learned about life with a profoundly disabled person is that giving them to a home is not like giving them away or not loving them anymore, you are giving them a chance to be free and meet similar people that they can learn from.


C) Questions that I would ask Ian Brown are,
1. An average day is 24 hours to us. How long does an average day feel like taking care of Walker?
2. We all have days were we don’t want to do something. How did you stay motivated to carry on each day?
3. What would you say is the most important thing Walker has taught you?