The joy I would have missed
When we moved here to our first house 10 years ago, there was a young man with obvious physical and mental challenges that lived on our street.
He loved bringing the mail down to each house every afternoon, but he’d just drop it by the garage or front door in the rain each time. You never knew where it would end up or how many important pieces blew away.
One neighbor put a mailbox by his garage so this young man would put the mail in the box and not just drop it on the ground. We did the same thing and never lost mail again.
His mom and I are great friends and he has moved into a host home. His mother realized that her age was a factor and she needed to make sure he’d be cared for if anything happened to her. I miss him a lot.
He can’t really carry on a conversation but says 2 or 3 words sentences. He loves trains, basketball and bowling. You’d never think a person with one-half of his body paralyzed and one arm permanently bent at the elbow could bowl or play basketball, but he can make a basket mid court and get a strike in bowling. Amazing to watch! He might not be able to run down the court, but get the ball to him and he’ll score for the team.
I look at all the joy I would have missed out on if I had ignored him or stayed afraid 10 years ago. Now I have a dear friend in his mother and he’s pretty neat too. – Kim ❤