A Lesson from L
Verbally Expressed by TLP (The Child) - Typed by TLP's Mom
January 30, 2008
I met L in sixth grade. L was hard to understand and it made me frustrated. She looked different from me and she was always taking things from me. She whined when she didn’t get her way. One time she even kicked me because she wanted to play with my cards. Every time I was rude to her she came back and was nice to me again.
One day my teacher told me that I had to be reading partners with L. I never liked to hang around with L because she was different then me, but I had to be her partner anyway. One day L asked me if I wanted to play a memory game with her at free time. I didn’t want to play with her but I did anyway. L talked a lot when we were playing the game but I couldn’t understand her much. She told me that I was a nice guy and asked me if I wanted to sit with her at lunch. After that we ate lunch together every day. One day I bought a fruit punch and we shared it because we were eating spicy chicken. When she wanted dessert, I bought an ice cream bar and we shared it so that we could both have dessert. Sometimes we played basketball at recess, or we played with my action figures that I snuck to school. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to bring them to school but she liked them and we always sat on the sidewalk and played with them. Sometimes we played with my cards in the classroom during free time. L beat me a lot. In sixth grade I had to leave school for a while. I went back to visit and L came running over to me crying. She said, “There’s my TLP!” She seemed glad to see me and seemed to miss me.
L was in my class in 7th and 8th grade too. We talked a lot about family and what’s going to happen in the future. We sat by each other to watch movies. L started to come to our house to visit. When she came here we played video games, watched movies, and swam in my pool. We laughed all the time. We did magic tricks together and told jokes. We listened to music and danced around the room. We played games and sometimes just sat and played with toys. When L’s daddy got sick and died, she cried. I went to the funeral with my mom. L was sad. It was hard to see her so sad. Her mom still let her come over to our house. L talked about her daddy and said that she misses her daddy. I was getting ready to cry with her because I really cared about her and her family.
L is smart and she understands more than other people thinks she does. She speaks kindly of other people and she’s not rude anymore. I can understand her now, and I don’t think she looks much different than everyone else. She doesn’t take things from me anymore unless she’s goofing around. That’s just her. She likes to goof around. She quit kicking me because I treated her better and because I shared my cards with her. She doesn’t whine anymore but she gives me her big fat lip when she wants something or wants to get her own way. I can’t resist her big fat lip and I just give her what she wants.
L taught me to be kind to all people even if they are different. She taught me manners when she hit me with her fork whenever I tried to eat food with my hands. She tells me that I have to eat healthier and eat more vegetables. She taught me not to sit sideways in my chair by grabbing me and making me sit straight. One time I sat crooked just to get her attention. She also taught me how to put my pinky finger in the air when I drink and she likes to sing to me. She still cheats at games but she does it to be funny.
I am in the 9th grade now. I don’t see L at school anymore. I am doing school at home. But L still gets to come here to my house sometimes. At Christmas I bought her a necklace to wear. She liked it. L and I talk. I told her a lot of things about my past. I told her that I was adopted. I told her that I was abused when I was a baby. This made L sad and she asked me why my step mom hurt me. I told her that it was my birth mom and not my step mom but she kept saying step mom. I told her that she can call her my step mom if she wants to.
I worry about L’s future. I worry that someone might hurt her. She’s going to need someone to take care of her. She’s going to need someone to take her to the grocery store. I’m worried about her that she might get sick because I don’t want her to die. I would like to see her be with me in the future. I would like to marry her so that I can take care of her and keep her safe. I would help her wash the dishes and cook. I would teach her things that she needs to know. Like how to use a snow blower, and how to read better, and how to fix things, and how to put things together. I would take her everywhere with me. I would take her to work with me. She could do volunteer work while I worked. I would take her to the movies, and the zoo, and sledding. I would also take her camping and fishing and swimming.
I need to be respectful of everyone, and work hard with reading and math and spelling. I need to get a driver’s license. I need to get a job and a car. Then maybe I can take care of L.
