Dark Sexy Knight - Katy Regnery Page 0,106

Ryan and Melody. The worried looks. The eyes that search mine with trust, hoping for answers or protection, knowing that I am a safe place in a massive, often indecipherable world. I have known the joy of witnessing his boundless kindness. I have been humbled by his struggles and deeply proud of the way he tries harder at life than anyone else I’ve ever known.

I have also had a lifetime, front-row seat to the incredibly painful reality of cruelty and discrimination against special-needs people. I have seen my beloved brother treated with such fantastic unkindness, it would make your breath catch in shock and your heart clench with profound sorrow. Many times I have wondered: Are “average” intelligence people frightened of special-needs people because they look and sound different? Or because they are kept separate from mainstream society in special education classes and in group homes? Maybe, if special-needs people were better integrated, their differences wouldn’t be feared or ridiculed.

For this reason more than any other, I am proud to give 25 percent of the net profits (for all sales in June and July 2016) of Dark Sexy Knightto the Prospector Theater in Ridgefield, Connecticut. From the Prospector’s website:

The Prospector Theater is a new model of social enterprise. It pairs a first-run, commercial movie theater with the mission of training and employing adults with disabilities. It's a not-for-profit system, with the competitiveness and transparency of a for-profit business model. It shows how community groups, businesses, and people in the private sector—working together—can improve the quality of lives for those with disabilities, while lessening the financial burden on the government and helping boost employment rates.

That language is very formal. Let me break it down.

When you enter the gorgeous, modern Prospector Theater, you are greeted warmly by a special-needs person—perhaps someone with spina bifida or Down syndrome—who directs you to the ticket counter. There, another special-needs person (sometimes assisted by a mentor) helps you with your ticket purchase. From there, you can visit the concession areas: one sells coffee, beer, and wine, and the other sells soda and popcorn. Both areas are staffed by special-needs people (sometimes assisted by mentors) who are courteous and efficient, eager to help and dedicated to their job. Your ticket is taken by a special-needs person who urges you to “Enjoy the show!” as you enter a state-of-the-art movie theater. Before the show, a special-needs person reviews the rules of the theater and reminds you of the movie you’re about to see. After the audience claps for the short presentation, the previews begin. At the Prospector, there are always two or three short, homemade “commercials” featuring theater employees and highlighting upcoming events. Often, these commercials are also met with applause. And when the movie is over, special-needs people are ready and waiting to usher you from the theater and then stay to tidy up for the next show.

The first time (and the second and the third, and, yes, sometimes even now, still) I went to the Prospector, I cried my eyes out. I cried for the goodness of the people who came up with the idea and executed it. I cried for the proud faces of the employees. I cried because I had a top-notch movie experience. I cried because the children who attend movies at the Prospector will never look at special-needs people as a population to be feared or ridiculed. Instead they will remember special afternoons at the movies with popcorn and soda, and kind, smiling faces. I cried because the Prospector Theater is a “pure good” in a world where there is so much crap. And I cried because there is a place where my brother (and my sister-in-law, whom he met in special ed and married in 1994) can go anytime he wants to see a movie, and when he hands the cashier a twenty-dollar bill for a small soda, he won’t be given a dime in change.

Like Verity, I married a man who also has a special-needs relative. And like Verity’s and Colton’s, I like to think our hearts recognized each other from the very beginning. You are my sweet place, George Matthew. Forever.

Thank you for buying a copy of Dark Sexy Knight, and if you’re ever in Connecticut, stop by the best theater in Ridgefield for a movie. It’s called the Prospector, and it’s an experience you’ll never forget.

Love,

Katy

DARK SEXY KNIGHT

PLAYLIST

Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You: Lauryn Hill

Main Theme from Greystoke: John Scott

The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

Grow: