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The poet Robert Browning once said, "Take away love and our
Earth is a tomb.” Thankfully, I have been able to choose
love and avoid that tomb so far in my own life. I have been
fortunate, too, that God has given me so many great teachers
who have shown me what it really means to love. I haven’t
always been the greatest student and I know I have a long
way to go. Still, with their help I keep trying to choose
love and learn more about love every day of my life.
One of my greatest teachers is very
different from the rest. This teacher is my youngest son. He
has a severe form of Autism that limits his speech and keeps
him trapped in his own world most of the time. Changes in
the simplest things disturb him. The smallest difficulties
frustrate him. His mood can go from extremely happy to very
sad in a heartbeat. Often he cries for no reason I can see,
and all I can do is hold him and wait for it to stop.
Even with all he has to go through,
however, my son has still shown me so much about love and
about joy. He has shown me that love must be unconditional,
patient, kind, and giving. He has shown me that love means
sometimes just being there for someone even though you can’t
solve their problems or ease their pain. He has shown me
that love is its own reward.
He has also shown me, though, that a
child’s laugh can sound as lovely and joyous as an angel’s
song. He has also shown me that the light in a person’s eyes
can twinkle as beautifully as the stars. He has also shown
me that a single smile can warm a heart and uplift a soul.
He has also shown me that a Heavenly spirit can shine
through any disability. He has also shown me that God
sometimes sends us our greatest teachers and angels in
disguise. My son didn’t need words, a PhD, or a brilliant
mind to teach me. All he needed was the loving heart and the
joyous soul God gave him. May all of you learn as much from
your own teachers in disguise.
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