Sometimes we have to look deep to find the beauty within. This story is a glimpse into one of my beautiful moments.
A Triumphant Day!
He was a tall thin boy for his age, no fat on those bones. His mom always tried to be sure that he had all of his favorites for lunch because he was an extremely picky eater and he had several food allergies which made it difficult to ensure that he was getting all the nutrient that he needed for a growing boy of ten.
As we left the room with him holding tightly onto my hand I could feel the wet, stickiness of his hand in mine, you see he often would put both of his hands into his mouth, if it wasn't his hands it would be whatever object that was close by.
The saliva that bonded my hand to his didn't bother me, I was quite use to holding wet hands, it was just part of the territory.
His gait was quite unsteady, we started down the hallway toward the main office. With his other hand he held a folder that contained several pictures.
We stopped numerous times before arriving at our destination. He would dropthe folder several times and I would instruct him to pick it up. When we opened the door to the office the secretary sat patiently waiting for him to push the big red button that was attached to the desk. We both cheered him on waiting for him to reach his goal.
Saliva dripped from his mouth into the desk wetting the big red button and slightly repulsing the secretary.
After a few more minutes and several more verbal prompts he was finally able to push the red button, so that the recorded message could be heard by the secretary. "Good morning, I'm here for the mail." He laughed and clapped his wet hands in total delight. The moment that we were waiting for had finally arrived, this child who struggled with every aspect of life had accomplished a goal that others took for granted. His sense of accomplishment could not be vocalized, because he had no words to give it. His tedious walk up the hallway caused many to shy away in fear, his loud boisterous vocalizations were often disturbing to others, he was a child with no
friends.
Other children shared the simple things in life that this child would never know, playing basketball in the driveway, hanging out with buddies on a Saturday night at the movies. This small triumphant act caused us all to stop in amazement, it took us only four short months to accomplish.
After spending three amazing years with this wonderful child my heart still leaps when my mind thinks of his triumphant day!
You see, this dear boy with his piercing blue eyes, wicked cowlick that never would be tamed and an infectious snicker was a child with Angelman's syndrome and I had the pure pleasure of being his teacher.