His Speech

The inside story of the life of a handicapped boy

His Speech

By: G. A. Montero

            Not too many people can relate to a handicapped person. Being stuck in a wheelchair is hard enough to deal with, and criticism makes it worse. There was always a struggle in the school hallways, trying to maneuver through the crowd with a faint ‘excuse me’ or accidentally blocking the passageway for other people when they were in a rush. Carrying books was a hassle as well. Having a backpack in your lap, hindering you from pushing your wheels, or strapped to the chairs handles, ultimately weighing you down. Then, there were the volunteers. The genuinely nice people who worked with kids with handicaps and offered to push them places or lead them through the halls. They were gentle and they were sweet, but the natural human nature is butter, as seen in their eyes every once in a while. Dealing with handicaps was a hassle, and they’d rather be with their other…normal, friends. Carson was an independent boy. He knew the situation he was in and tried very hard every day to do things himself so that he wouldn’t trouble the lives of other people. Whenever I picked him up from school and asked him how his days went, he’d answer simply. “Class went well. I have homework.” And that’s all it would be left at. His room was on the first floor, obviously, and that’s where he stayed most days. His friends were the Marvel comic books that filled the shelves lining the walls. His comfort was the computer that stayed on his desk, always turned on. The day we found him in his room, gasping due to loos of breath, strapped in his chair and unable to move his wheels, I nearly started to lose myself in tears. Was this the end? Is this really how my dearest �" my only son �" will leave the earth? He slept peacefully on the hospital bed. An IV strapped into his arm, tubes, through his nose. The doctor said Carson would be fine… and…we were glad…
However, I’d like to thank you all for attending today. We appreciate all that everyone’s done for the family, and I can say nothing but thank you. Your prayers, along with ours, will be reached by Carson in heaven, and we’d love for him to know that even if it’s hard to relate to a handicapped person, I’m sure that there were people here, willing to try. Good evening.