Last night, towards the end of Mass, Patrick stood on the pew, placed one hand on my shoulder and the other on the pew. Then he whispered, “Watch!”

I envisioned Patrick jumping off of the pew and so I responded, “Patrick, get down.”

He repeated, “Watch!”

I envisioned Patrick cutting his lip or biting his tongue and I responded, “Get down. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Patrick said, “Watch! He’s going to drink it.”

Suddenly, a light went on in my brain and I focused my attention where it should be. Patrick had assumed my role. Whenever we are at Mass and I notice Patrick’s attention waning, I whisper to him to watch and I explain quietly what our pastor is doing. Yesterday, after refocusing my attention, Patrick quietly told me what our priest was doing.