It was preschool when a boy came up to me and said “Hi” and instantly gave me a hug with the biggest smile. Ever since that day, that boy with the big smile grew an even bigger heart and bigger smile than he already had. It’s amazing what a person with a big smile and even bigger heart can do. It can shape a community, shape a school and shape a person.
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just that little ‘extra’.”
He helps people who are feeling down, his smiles are simply contagious, his laugh is medicine for a broken heart, his hugs feel like they are sent from heaven, and his heart is pure gold.
As we went through school and life together from preschool to senior year, he taught me things that will be instilled in me for the rest of my life. He was the biggest teacher in that school of ours. Not only to me but everyone who stepped foot in the building.
Whether it was a kid who struggled with school, the kid who was always in trouble with the law, or the straight A student, this boy’s growing smile taught everyone someone about life.
He taught us:
- How to ALWAYS be positive and find the light in a dark situation
- That warm hugs go a long way
- To never leave anyone out
- To treat everyone with the same kindness
- To laugh and tell jokes as much as you possibly can
- That smiles can make a person’s day (will make a person’s day)
- How to be someone’s biggest fan
- To dance (literally breakdance) like no one is watching
He changed his community, his school and his peers’ heart by doing what he does best; being himself. We learned not to change him, instead, let him change us. He is a gift sent from God to everyone he touches with that big ole smile of his. He puts things in perspective. He reminds us that it is not what we do, but how we make people feel.
He was never “different” if anything we all wanted to be just like him. I, and our community needed him in our life. That extra chromosome is the best thing that has ever happened to me because that chromosome is what pushed me to be a better person. To love unconditionally, to fill my heart with joy and to never get down on yourself. I couldn’t tell you one thing from that history book, but I could go on for hours about what I learned from him.
Not a lot of people get to say that they have a best friend like that boy who approached me in preschool. Not a lot of people get to be in the presence of a person who radiates kindness, warmth and the most unconditional love. What I would do to have joy in my veins, smiles bigger than the sun, and love so similar to God’s like him.
I think I can speak for many by confidently saying that when you judge someone on what is called a “diagnosis”, you miss out on their brilliant abilities, beauty and uniqueness.
He did not need a special community to flourish, he made us special. Because all in all, we are more alike than different.
Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month!
After all, love does not count chromosomes.