STEPHANIE HUBACH | CONTRIBUTOR

March is Down syndrome awareness month. As a parent of an adult with Down syndrome, I’ve written many different pieces about what it is like raising a child who has Down syndrome. This year, I decided to interview my son Tim instead. So, largely unedited and unfiltered. . .here’s Tim, in his own words!

• Tell us something about yourself and where you live?
  • My name is Tim Hubach. I am 33 years old. And I live at 278 Stony Lane. I picture myself to be awesome.
• Who calls you Uncle Tim?
  • Caroline, Everett, and Dietrich. The twins (Dietrich and Everett) are actually working on it. Because it sounds like “Unicorn Tim.” But they called me Tim first. When they call me on FaceTime, they say, “Teeem! Teeem! Teeem!” They are always happy to see me.
  • Caroline calls me Uncle Tim. Me and Caroline are actually trouble. Sometimes we get caught when we sneak snacks. She is innocent because she always asks for snacks, but for me, as her uncle, Uncle Tim is guilty for sneaking them for both of us.
• What is the best thing about being an uncle?
  • Having fun with Caroline, Everett and Dietrich. Sometimes they are a piece of work and make me crazy. But in a good way, I would say I am the only Down syndrome guy who is an uncle of those three. Also, those three are actually fun and darned entertaining.
• What types of things do you like to do with Caroline, Dietrich, and Everett?
  • Coloring, going outside for walks including going to the park. Doing puzzles. Playing games. Sometimes the boys actually climb on me, like I am their jungle gym. A jungle wrestling gym!
• You’re fondly known by your nickname: “Cart Man.” Tell my friends the story about how you became known as “Cart Man.”
  • Let me start off with my job at WellSpan first and how I started. On my senior year, when I was in high school, I started volunteering at WellSpan Health Center, the doctor’s office at Brownstown. What I did there when I was volunteering was greeting people. Then I said, “Hi! Welcome to WellSpan Health Center!” and they came in. So I added the greeting to my job as a cart person. The first time when I was a cart person was at Martin’s Country Market was in the year of 2013. “Welcome to Martin’s Country Market! May I help you?”
  • Part of being a cart man is confidence, and being nice to people, and how to serve them. Customers need a cart and including feeling welcomed. The reason why the job is important is because the cart man is the first person and the last person everyone sees at the grocery store. If the cart man is happy people feel welcomed.
• You had a really sad time last year when your place of employment for almost 11 years, “Martin’s Country Market,” suddenly burned to the ground. How did your work through that hard situation?
  • I was heartbroken, because I lost contact with my co-workers and my customers. The power of prayer helped me to find another job. I wasn’t ready to look for one right away because I was making a video for everyone to help them remember all the years I have worked there from back when before it burned down. The song in the video was “God Will Take Care of You.” I trusted God to take care of me through that, through my pain and sadness.
• What are your favorite things about your new job at DutchWay Farm Market?
  • My Heavenly Father gave me a new job at DutchWay Farm Market. I am a cart pusher. I like working there because it is my home. I feel welcome there. They treat me like family and they love me to work there. I love my old customers (who I see sometimes), but sometimes they have to realize it is DutchWay and not Martin’s!
• What’s your special treat on Fridays?
  • My special treat on Fridays is soft ice cream which is fun because we do it as a family at the end of my shift at DutchWay. It is very good. I usually get chocolate and vanilla twist.
• What are some of your favorite things to do when you are not at work at DutchWay Farm Market?
  • My favorite things that I do when I am not at work. . . I go for walks to Refreshing Mountain Camp, and including going to Friendship Heart Studio. I do art and crafts there—like paintings, drawings, and the lessons of art that I took. Including weaving. My favorite thing is to make a scarf, and a hat, including a wall hanging.
• Who is Jesus and what does he mean to you?
  • What he means to me: that he is kind, he is thoughtful, forgiving, and generous. He is my friend and savior. His Word is very important on every day, including Sunday. Sometimes we are not perfect. Jesus gives us grace. When I am weak, God is strong.
• How has God made you in some unique ways?
  • Down syndrome. The 47^th extra chromosome. I am not like anyone else because I am different. We are all different. There are different people across the country, all in one world.
• What places do you serve God in the community, in addition to your work?
  • I’m in Praise Band at church with my Praise Band director Courtney—she is a great director. Following and listening to each other is part of how we learn to play music together. I play the Congas, and sometimes I play the shaker, including the full drum set. I started drum lessons when I was in third grade.
  • When I was little, I used to give water to Pastor Tom. (He couldn’t breathe, because I gave him hot water one time. But usually cold water.)
  • And also, I help out at Sunday School with the Beginners. I fill water cups for snack time, I also help them with their crafts and lesson.
• Can you tell us a little bit about your favorite friends?
  • I call my friends with Down syndrome “The 47’s.” They are awesome friends. They are fun and funny. We like to go bowling, going to movies, making movies, Night to Shine, and dancing. We are great dancers—we could dance on top of the roof like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins!
• What are your favorite hobbies right now?
  • My favorite hobbies are reading, including making movies, and props for them. And I am working on weaving. I have big dreams for my movies. I have props all over my apartment that I am creating for my movie. It is a pig stye!
• Since you do not drive a car, how do you travel around when you have things you want to do?
  • How I get around is by Uber, including my parents driving me. It was hard for me when I couldn’t drive, but my mom promised me she could take anything where I want to go.
• Do you have any big travel plans coming up?
  • For next year. Next year, me and my Down syndrome friends are going for a cruise to Alaska. It will be way cool.
• What big dreams do you have for your life?
  • I am not like Will Massey, I don’t have big dreams like Will Massey does. But for my life, I wanted to make friends—and I have them. And I have a girlfriend, named Sara Miller, that I want to get married to when she is 35. So, I am happy. And I hope in the future, my parents will let me go in seven years. (But it is going to be full of sadness and tears and emotional for my parents because I am their last baby.) I will say it this way. I want to stay in this house for seven more years. Then I will have my own place.
• What do you like to read?
  • I like to read my Bible, the Narnia books, Harry Potter books, Star Wars books, Elvis books, history, and mystery, including the Hardy Boys.

Mom’s final note:

Tim’s outlook on life is refreshing, and his faith in the Lord is simple but sure. So sure. To me, he embodies these verses in Psalm 84: 10-12:

“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper (or a Cart Man?) in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!”

Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash