CANON CITY, Colo.—The nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit dubbed him “Conan” because of his fighting spirit.
Jonathan Hinton, born March 23, 1989, from the beginning was in a fight for his life. Now, at age 20, Jonathan is ready to celebrate another milestone—graduating from Canon City High School.
“He was born with a smile on his face and has never lost it,” said his mom, Diane Hinton.
At five months of age, Jonathan’s family moved to Washington State, where he received care from Shriners Hospital for his orthopedic needs. Born with cerebral palsy, Jonathan, the youngest of four children, often has faced his many challenges with a mischievous smile and a sly wit.
“He becomes frustrated when his body doesn’t cooperate,” Diane said, “but he has maintained his sense of humor, and focus on what are the more important things in life.
“Jonathan has a deep faith in God that has sustained him through disappointments in life. He’s expressed a desire to help people.”
Jonathan maintains an especially close relationship with his grandmother in Washington, who calls him every weekend to hear an original story. Their calls often last an hour or more, as he weaves his creative fiction.
“His joy and gift is telling stories and role-playing with his grandma,” Diane said. “He works out his dreams, his hopes, his frustrations and, he says, his dark side, through role-playing and stories.”
Jonathan said he likes to tell stories about moms.
“I tell different stories,” he said. “I tell Christmas stories. My avenue for telling stories is with my grandma. I did a story about the little drummer boy one Christmas, and one of Santa, who loved doughnuts.”
Jonathan has worked with the same paraprofessional at CCHS for the past four years. Juanita Cruz, who had retired as a Spanish teacher from Mountain View Core Knowledge School, received a call about working with Jonathan four years ago. The two have developed such a tight bond, they are apt to finish one another’s sentences.
“I was asked, How would you like to be the hands of a young man,'” Cruz said. “I got to meet Jonathan, and it was love at first sight. We hit it off.”
Cruz was instrumental in raising funds for Jonathan’s first vacation at a camp for youth with special needs in Purdy, Missouri.
“I went to Camp Barnabas,” Jonathan said with a bright smile. “I got to do bungee jumping. I got to do swimming and dancing.”
Though she is excited for his future, Cruz said she is beginning to feel the loss of Jonathan moving on.
“He’s a senior, and I’m going to lose my buddy,” Cruz said. “I hope we’ll never lose contact with one another. When he wears that cap and gown across that stage, I’m going to wear a cap and gown, too. I’m going to walk with my buddy.”
“I dearly appreciate Mrs. Cruz taking care of me,” Jonathan said. “We’ve been through some times together. She’s really a special lady.”
Jonathan and Cruz both fell into a fit of laughter when they recounted a favorite memory. Cruz had brought a couple of tiny pumpkins to place on the tray of Jonathan’s wheelchair one holiday. Jonathan teased her that he was going to bake her a pie with the diminutive pumpkins.
“Her first Thanksgiving, I told her I’d make her a pumpkin pie,” Jonathan said.
“The girls in the office got a whiff of this and they went out and bought a pie,” Cruz added. “They placed it on his chair and they said, Jonathan, did you promise someone something?’ He looked at them and said, Oh, my family’s going to love this pumpkin pie.’ So, the pie went home.”
At the time of the great pumpkin pie pinch, Jonathan’s ROTC class presented him the “The ROTC Pumpkin Pie Snatcher Award.”
“They pinned him with a pumpkin pin,” Cruz said.
In addition to his irrepressible sense of humor, Jonathan used his creative bent to present his mom with a cherished song he and Cruz wrote together for Mother’s Day.
“I know that my mom is so lucky. I know that my mother loves me,” Jonathan softly sang, while Cruz tearfully looked on. “I know that my mother’s so lucky, because she’s got a boy and that’s me.”
