Today I am sharing a lesson about human kindness and how
easily we can distribute it if we want to. My older kids who are not autistic
experienced a loss on their dad’s side of the family a couple years ago. A
Great Uncle who passed away from cancer. A Very difficult thing to understand,
especially at such a young age. They didn’t know him well but I think when you
are so young that can make it even harder to grasp. The family is very close
and he was an excellent member of the community in general. If you knew this
man you knew the world would never be same without him in it. Although his
legacy of kindness would never go away and through his rough exterior helping
people came very naturally to him.
The
family had some brightly colored shirts made that said Cancer Sucks on the
front. Short and sweet sending a simple statement about how it felt to lose a
loved one. My son came home with one of these shirts and wore it to school. A
teacher informed him it was offensive and asked him to either take it off or
turn it inside out. My son refused and I am sure the teacher considered him to
be a defiant punk for not doing as he was told that day. I can say pretty honestly
that could be a genetic trait on both sides that also requires an
understanding. I patiently waited for the school to call and have me come in to
discuss the issue all the while wishing I had an extra Cancer Sucks t-shirt to
wear to the meeting. I don’t condone my children being defiant but in this
case, I saw it as something that meant the world to him and that mattered to me
because I know all too well it’s ok to question authority from time to time. The
school never called of course, it wasn’t as offensive as some things I could
point out in a building full of teenagers.
I did
tell my son he should do something more active when it comes to Cancer
awareness and learn more about how it affects people’s lives. I offered to take
him over to the children’s hospital and meet some families affected which I
think was a bit of a scary thought to him at the time. At the same time the
Relay for Life fundraiser started at the school. My son loves his money! So much
so he doesn’t like to put it in the bank because it’s out of site. But one day
I noticed his change jar he had been saving for months was empty. I asked him
about it and he had decided to donate it all to the cause. You can imagine the
smile I had on my face because not only did he stand up for what he believed he
did something to make an impact. He may not have known exactly how much money
was in there as it was a fair amount for a young kid, but he didn’t care. Soon
that defiant kid who refused to turn his shirt inside out was getting smiles
and Atta boys from the authority figures at school.
Moral
of the story, it is just that easy to do something. Even if what matters to you
means you have to stand up to people who truly don’t understand how you feel.
My son took a risk that day by refusing to listen. He could have gotten in
trouble at school and at home because he didn’t know how I would feel about his
stance. Typically if he gets in trouble at school he is in trouble at home.
There are so many lessons that can be learned from the kindness of
children we just forget as we get older and get wrapped up in the world.
Everyone is born kind but time seems to put it to sleep. Wake up your kindness
and give it some exercise! Stand up for
what matters to you and it doesn’t directly have to affect you. The money
donated by my son in no way was a benefit to him. He gave it up and never saw
it again and has no idea who or how it helped anyone. It doesn’t matter either
because he just wanted to do something, and he did. Make a difference and it doesn’t
have to be money to do it. Kindness alone is more powerful then we give it
credit for.
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