I saw people looking at C today, but the glances were different. They weren't looking at a sickly child with a nasal cannula, just a little boy with big eyes and curly hair on a family outing. We removed C's oxygen tube so it wouldn't get wet during his first swim lessons.
We've been taking C out with no oxygen a lot lately, and he's doing well without it, even for prolonged periods. Normally, though, we coil his tube into a small backpack.
But not today. Today he was just a boy — a boy with some silly gestures, funny expressions, and quirky mannerisms, but a boy without an obvious illness. It felt odd, but it also felt great.