She grew up like every other child, or at least, like every other child should.  She believed she was the center of everyone’s world.  She learned to take this state of her being for granted.

While a teenager, her peers did what they could to shatter that belief.  They made it clear to her that she was nothing special.  In fact, she was rather less than average.  This reality came as a shock to her and after being rejected time after time, she withdrew into herself.

Then she met a man who told her she was special.  He told her she was beautiful.  He said he would never leave . . .

One day she became a mother to a beautiful boy.  She thought that finally she had found the happiness she thought she had lost.  She promised herself that her son would know he was the center of her world.  As the child grew, she started to realize that he was different from the other children.  He didn’t interact with the other boys and girls.  Instead of speaking, he pointed and grunted.  His tantrums were excessive and he couldn’t seem to focus.  This put a stress on her marriage and soon . . . her husband left.  She cried and wondered why she had been given this child.  She cried and wondered how she would get through the next fifteen years alone. Then one day, her son went to school and she saw him struggle.

He struggled to be accepted.  He struggled to learn.  She saw that there was a fighter inside of him and that he was not going to give up so easily.  This galvanized her and she set about the arduous task of discovering what type of support he needed. She learned to be his advocate. She watched him fail and she watched him succeed, and there were many tears and fears along the way.

But now her little boy is a man and the fruits of her labor are evident only to those who know how hard she has striven to get to this place.  The casual acquaintance only sees a mother with her handsome, strong, loving son.  Along the way, she advocated not only for him, but for so many other children.  She realizes she hasn’t thought about herself in years.  And yet, somehow, she has become the center of so many lives.  She is a selfless caring woman and has become a treasured friend to many.

http://www.theresadodaro.com   Author of The Tin Box Trilogy