To the kid who made my baby brother cry today,

The sweetest soul I know came home from school and spent the afternoon crying because he couldn't figure out how someone could be so mean. His kind heart couldn't figure out how you, the kid in the seat behind him on the bus, could look at him and say, "You're weird and that's why nobody likes you."

Here's my challenge to you: spend just one day inside Jak’s mind and try to tackle the everyday obstacles he faces with the many issues that scramble around in his brain. I guarantee there's not another soul on this planet that could be diagnosed with Aspergers, OCD, severe ADHD, and have to deal with all of the anxiety and insecurities that follow from those things, and yet still look at this world in such a wonderful way that only he does.

So yes, our Jak can be a little weird and sometimes he takes interest in things other fourth graders wouldn't (he wanted a Michael Jackson cake for his fifth birthday), but that's just part of the way his beautiful little mind works and that's just one of the many reasons Jak has such a hold on everyone's hearts around him. He sees the world with so much optimism and he brings light to everything around him.

It was completely heartbreaking today to have him look at me with such a sadness that I’ve never seen him show before and say, "They all think I'm weird, no one gets me," and the pain I felt in my heart hearing that is nothing I've ever felt before. It breaks my heart to know that your words spoke louder to Jak than all of the love our family showers him with and that those few words let him forget his importance in my life.

After a long afternoon of tears and talking, Jak and I decided to go grab some ice cream. On the way into town, Jak saw the fountain and asked me to please pull over and loan him some pennies. Confused, I asked him, “Why?” Jak responded and said, “I gotta make a wish, Sis, and I swear I’ll pay you back, but it’s really important.” After tossing close to 50 cents in pennies in the fountain, I asked what he wished for and why he felt the need to use so many pennies. He told me, "I can't tell you because it won't come true and I just want things to be better. If one penny makes one wish, then with all those pennies, my wish has gotta come true, right?"

Instead of thinking negatively of the situation and wishing bad upon you for making him feel so insecure and alone, he accepted what had happened and was determined to make the situation better even if all he could do was desperately throw some pennies in to a fountain.

His kind soul amazes me every day even after his 10 years of life, and not a day goes by that I don't thank God for blessing me with his quirky little irreplaceable soul. His brightness and determination are just two of the traits he holds that I can only hope to embody myself one day. He faces everyday challenges and overcomes each and every one of them as if they weren’t even there. He is such an inspiration to those around him. Jak Perdew and his compassion are going to change the world someday. I know if you'd only open your heart, you'd see what a beautiful soul our Jak man has, too.

Love,

A very, very overprotective sister

P.S. The Perdew Crew is seven people strong, and we don't like when people mess with our baby.