My new friend

I was getting bored with grading my grad students’ finals when my alarm went off to go get Nu. Consequently, I left a few min earlier than usual.

As I scooted through the Junior High, I saw a teenaged girl wearing the Junior High School uniform, but different pants. I didn’t think much about it until 5 seconds later, when I saw 4-5 people looking for her.

“Does she have disabilities?” I called out. “Yes!” They replied firmly.

I looped around to where she was… gone! I looped around toward our house into the nearby park… nowhere.

I looked back at the area where I had seen her before. There, on the other side of the fence (from where she was before), she was tucked away in the bushes.

I pointed her out to her teachers, who quickly surrounded her—lovingly trying to encourage her to return. She wasn’t going to budge.

She was at clear risk of bolting again. “Do you want to ride my scooter?” I was pretty sure she wouldn’t be too successful, given the severity of her disabilities. (Severe intellectual disabilities, probably autism, non-verbal.) But it would get her moving in the right direction. She hopped on and let me drive her the half-mile up one side of the school and then to the opposite corner of the school.

Her teacher burst into tears when she saw her, “She’s just SO vulnerable.”

I’m so grateful we found her!

Sometimes in life, we have these moments where we know that we were placed in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time, with exactly the right skills, and a whole bucket of inspiration to help us know what to do.

I am grateful!