Julie Helen: Watching Ricky's world expand before him

The click-clack of football boots on the hard floor is the newest sound in my kitchen and it has been making me smile.

Ricky is taking part in his first-ever GAA Cúl Camp this week and the excitement is fierce. When we moved west, we knew we would be building our life and our community around us.

Ten minutes from David’s home place, he is almost home, just not exactly, we are in a different townland with Ricky attending a different school to his cousins on the home farm.

When we were building our house, the subject of GAA came up and it was an easy decision to land on that we would return to Dave’s home club up the road so that Ricky could be on teams with his cousins and be part of the close community the Helen family grew up and flourished in.

Once the decision was made, Ricky started taster sessions for young kids in the club and he was overjoyed that his cousins were there.

He had seen Cúl Camp gear at school throughout the year and asked could he go.

The summer has crept up on us and flown by but I have been so grateful that Auntie Lorna, who has four of Ricky’s cousins, stepped in with a gum shield and football boots. She also really helped us get the right helmet and gave me peace of mind in that we had everything sorted.

On the first day, Ricky registered with his cousins, and though he wouldn’t be in the same group as them he was thrilled to be with them. Lorna made things so easy for me by adding my boy to her gang and so I didn’t have to worry about walking and standing, and uneven surfaces, and the other tiny obstacles that occupy my mind way too much. I also didn’t know the people, though I’m certain they all knew who I was, that’s the way it rolls in being a blow in.

Ricky on the other hand won’t be a blow in, he feels at home, he feels welcome, he feels like he belongs and that’s worth its weight in gold. As time passes, I will find where I fit too, and through my outgoing firecracker of a son who doesn’t have a shy bone in his body, I’m bound to meet all the people along the way. I’ll be there to give the lift to training or back or to a match or whatever else I can contribute along the way.

In a quiet moment, I feel more emotional about seeing Ricky ready for GAA than any other rite of passage he’s been through yet, maybe because it is another little step in letting go and giving Ricky another piece of his own independence.

I am so proud of him I could burst, he takes everything in his stride. Maybe it’s because Cúl Camp is something completely out of my own experience. I’ve never worn a pair of football boots, I would never be able to walk in them, not to mention play a game.

Something like this brings my disability to the fore when the majority of the time it can live as a quiet hum in the background.

Watching Ricky on the field, all kitted out and delighted with life, was the icing on the cake. He was thrilled and the sunshine made everything sparkle. After day one, he fell into bed exhausted but so happy and thanked me for helping him get organised. He is having such a blast and it’s a joy to watch his world expand both with and without me.