i've been thinking...

today as i was picking ben up from school, i ran into mrs. tara, his teacher from the toddler room.
she was one of ben's most favorite teachers.
when i say that, i mean ben loved her and so did i. just to clarify.
she told me that she has decided to go back to school to get her master's degree in special ed.
how wonderful!
but then she told me that ben really influenced her decision--because she just loved him so much and enjoyed watching him succeed--she thought that's where she belonged.

and my heart opened up and i turned into a big fat drippy puddle right there.
i had to practically run away so she wouldn't see my hot stinging tears.
luckily, ben's class was outside on the playground so when i entered his room, i was alone.
i stood there for a few moments to compose myself and thought about how much tara's words meant to me.

later after we got home, one of josh's friends met us at our car in the driveway.
we were piling out, arms full of backpacks and papers.
the boys were chatting and giggling when his friend stopped me.
"mrs. jupin? does ben have down syndrome?"
"yes he does," i told him.
"hmm." he was obviously still thinking, "but he can do what normal kids can do!"
"yes he can. it just takes him a little bit longer than others, but he sure can."
"cool," he said satisfied. "WAY cool."
when i stood in the foyer, closing the front door behind me, i couldn't help but think that maybe i just educated him a little bit. maybe he'll see ben and think, man, down syndrome is no big deal! it's nothing, look at ben. he's cool. way cool. and maybe he'll tell someone and that person will tell someone and so on.
and that means so very much.

why am i telling you all this? i don't know. sometimes certain conversations, little conversations, mean so much. you may not know it then, but when it hits you, man, that's some powerful stuff.
you never know when your kind words could make someone's day.
you never know when just one little thing that you said could stick with someone, get into their minds and make them smile.
so say it. ask questions. tell someone what they are doing is awesome. tell them that you notice them, they are cool, their child is cool, way cool, you notice them. it's so powerful.

thank you tara.
thank you marcus.
you made my day. it means so much.