April 21, 2007

• Feats of Strength

  I picked the boys up from school a little early for doctor's appointments.  Tucker's teacher came out to talk with me.  That's usually never a good thing.  But yesterday there was an incident where another child fell from the ladder of the slide, and Tucker was the one who went straight to him and helped him while the other kids stood back. 

  The child wasn't seriously injured, and later he gave Tucker a "Caught Caring".  That's a little piece of paper that just says, "I could tell you cared about me when you .... " and in all the time that Tucker has been in this school, and been in this class that's the first time that he's gotten one.  It made his day.

  And his Mom's day.

  This has been a hard road and a hard year for Tucker.  He's beset by challenges that the other kids don't understand.  He has issues not only with the ADHD but also with low blood sugar.  And he alternates between unexplainable hyperactivity and unexplainable crying as a result of these things which are out of his control.  But he also makes bad choices.  We all feel badly from time to time, some of us for much of the time, but everyone has choices about what they do to cope with their feelings.

  So for Tucker to make enough of a turnaround in one week with the choices that he makes and to come home with the "Caught Caring" is a feat of strength that deserved a nice visual reinforcement. 

  After our appointments, I took the boys to Zio's Italian Kitchen to celebrate with a nice dinner and then we headed out to Mr Biggs where the Strength Team were doing demonstrations of some rather amazing things.  One young body builder blew up a hot water bottle until it burst.  I can't imagine what it would be like to have the strength to do something like that.  My understanding is that he has to resist over 800 pounds of pressure. 

  The oldest and largest of the group included in his stats that he leg presses 1600 pound weights.  Another of the men on the team has been Mr Michigan and competed several times in the Mr Universe body building competition. 

  All week these guys have been visiting area schools with messages to resist drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, to make healthy choices and build strong bodies, and most important of all to stay in school and pursue the highest education level to gain the possibility of a decent future.

  Another Xangan has until recently posted a quote from Philo of Alexandria that says, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."  We can't know what battles other people are fighting, and we also can't know how difficult those battles are.  I'm pretty out there, I think that people who read this site know about my battles.  But if you didn't read here, if say for instance you just happened to know me casually through work or something, would you have any idea of the many neurotic issues I carry around? 

  You'd probably know about my shoe obssession if you saw me regularly ...

  But anyway, the point is that yesterday was a day of impressive feats of strength.  And to all who are fighting their battles and NOT LOSING - I say, "Grab on and don't let go.  Fight for compassion and honor and justice and dignity.  Fight your battle because you are worth it." 

  I tried to take photos, but the demonstration was outside and the light was fading quickly so I didn't get many that are usable. 

  

   

  • 8:41 am
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