Decaff Man

My son Jesse is thirteen years old and was born with Cerebral Palsy. One day after school Jesse told me he had a pretty bad day with some of the kids from school picking on him. He was silent for a minute, then looked up at me and said, "I wish I was regular."

My heart ached for him. I knew exactly what he was talking about yet I asked him what he meant by regular. He said, "I don't know mom ... I just wish I could walk like everyone else." Being a mother and wanting to see my child happy and smiling, I began to ramble very quickly without a moment to catch my breath.

I said, "Regular? So you want to be like everyone else, huh? Why? Everybody else is the same. You stand out! Regular, mmmmm? Like coffee? Your not regular coffee so I guess that makes you decaffeinated, huh? You're a decaffeinated kind of guy. Ya! Well then that's your new name, Decaff Man and be proud of it! Not everyone likes regular."

Ever since that day Jesse's little brother and I always address him as Decaff Man and every time we do, he stops, looks at us and then he smiles.