On a recent morning when I awoke to a beautiful spring day, I remembered something that happened to me the day before.
I met a woman -- a mother -- who made me realize what true love, devotion and dedication really are.She was probably around 40 or so years old; quiet and rather shy. She looked a little tired and somewhat careworn. We met in a copy machine store. She laid about six small photographs of a very small boy on the counter. He was her 15-year-old, handicapped son. He was her only child, who had died three years before. He only weighed 37 pounds -- but he was full of smiles and happiness. She said he had never walked or talked and was able to do no ordinary things for himself. He hardly ever cried or was fussy but only returned her love and was happy to be alive.
She seemed so lost without him. He had been her life. She was close to tears as she showed me his pictures and told me a little about him. I saw in her a great woman.
She didn't do her job for honors or praise, but because she truly loved this helpless and happy little child who needed her.
This quiet little woman, whom I talked with for perhaps 30 minutes yesterday, has blessed me and made me a better person. I am so honored to have talked with her and learned a great lesson that I needed. May she inherit her place in the sun and someday again be reunited with her little son who is now made whole and complete.
I wish I could tell her how she helped me and how honored I feel to have met her. But I do not even know her name.
Dorothy Bradley
Fruit Heights