I met Max at school yesterday at 11:05 so that I could carry him downstairs to the lunch room. It’s the same most days.

Yesterday, as he was on my back he rested his head on my shoulder and told me Wonder was out on DVD. He wanted to see it.

He told me that Mr. A (the teacher of the class just before lunch) gave a speech on being Kind. His teacher told them that somebody might be having the worst day and you can either make it worse for the person or you could make it better. Even a smile can make someone’s day better.

At that point he was almost whispering and he said, “it reminds me of me.”

We were to the bottom of the stairs and I lowered him to the ground. Lots of days be hugs me and I go upstairs to wait for him.

Yesterday there was no hug and he walked off down the corridor with one arm outstretched running his hand along the wall and holding his lunch in the other.

He was deep in thought.

Less than 2 hours later a text from his study hall teacher dinged on my phone. He was telling her he was very tired. She thought he looked a little sad too.

I had a hunch I knew what was going on. It was the melancholy deep thought he was in when I left him at lunch.

He came home. He was sad. I could sense tears just under the surface. He told me his legs hurt when he walked. He looked exhausted.

At home he surfed through the pay per view channels and found the movie Wonder. We ordered it and watch it together. At the end of the movie his eyes were welling with tears.

I sat next to him. I told him he could tell me anything.

The tears started and he told me to go away.

I was fighting back tears. I needed to make sure he was ok. So I asked him to tell me if the tears were because he was hurting because kids are mean or if they were because he felt blessed to have so much kindness in his own life.

He said the tears were because he was so blessed.

He is so blessed. He is 12. He has a rare disease that is slowly robbing him of his independence. He is the smallest kid in his class and is the only one in the building that uses a motorized scooter to help him around. He needs help on the stairs and in and out of the van. He needs help with almost everything.

With all of that in mind, yesterday when his teacher talked about kindness, he saw his blessings.

His friends are kind. His teachers are kind. He told me he never feels like people stare at him unless we are out of town and have all 3 boys on scooters.

He was overcome by his blessings. He felt so much emotion that it exhausted him.

We both cried. He were so full of gratitude for our blessings that our eyes were leaking. Kindness is a beautiful thing. Everyone deserves kindness. I’m thankful that Max is embraced with kindness.