The Right Words

"Sometimes someone says something really small, and it just fits right into this empty place in your heart. 

-- From the TV show "My So-Called Life"

I was driving along...burdened by crossing schedules and conflicting places to be. 

Inside the car I had Mary Kate lamenting how she needed a lunch, her bike fixed, and her schedule for work changed.  

I could not meet her needs.

It wasn't going to happen...

that's always ugly.

She got upset.

I got upset.

I dropped her off at work under a dome of silence.

Mumblings of dissatisfaction uttered from her lips as she was leaving, hovered around my ears like a buzzing bee.

After she left, I sighed;

took a deep breath and started on the next leg of my journey.

I was driving.

The car was silent...blessedly silent.

And then, out of no where came the tiniest voice.

A voice that is usually booming with excitement and energy --

tiny and small but clear.

"I love you."

I let it hang there like a fragrance.

I let it shush away the buzzing bee of anxiety;

I let it woosh away the frustration;

I let it embrace me, comfort me and weedle its way straight into my heart.

Three little words of encouragement and acceptance --

  the desire to make it all better the only way he knew how.

Finally after more silence and a few more miles, I turned around and looked over my shoulder at him.

He was quiet and conflicted.

He smiled.

**Let me state right here and now, that no matter your perception of people with Down Syndrome, Patrick is not wandering around dropping love bombs and telling me how great I am all day long.  In fact, I'd say that his number of "I love you's" is in direct proportion to his teen-age, adolescent boy-ness. -- it hardly ever happens.**

I told him that I had heard his words but that I needed a minute to let them sink in.

I thanked him  -- eye to eye and heart to heart.

He smiled again, bigger this time...proud that his gamble had worked.

We had lunch.  

We moved through our day of conflicts and schedules.

We made it.

Those small words, uttered at just the right moment, were grace out loud.

Thank you Patrick...you always seem to get to the heart of the matter in the cleanest, clearest way.

Thanks for parting the clouds and beaming in your sunshine.

Thanks for making it better with your stout heart, ready love and tender words at the exact moment my heart needed them.

Time to pass them on.

I love you.

Any words turn out to be just what you needed to hear recently?

If so, pass them on.  Share.

We could all use some tenderness.