The Important Thing About OOMM by Mrs. A.

Dear Students,

The important thing about Out of My Mind is that it makes me realize what a special person it takes to truly be friends with someone like Melody.  We have talked about how many of us would be nice to her, but being her friend would be different.

When I was in elementary school, I had a friend who had muscular distrophy and she was in a wheelchair.  She could speak and write and even walk if she was at home, but she was too frail to walk at school or in public places.  She could easily fall over if bumped even a little, and her bones were so fragile that she could get injured easily.  Her name was Lynn. 

Lynn was my friend in kindergarten through about 2nd grade.  I would go to her house.  I would play with her at school.  But things changed in 3rd grade.  I stopped talking to her.  I was ashamed because she wasn't "cool" or "normal."  I remember in high school she would wheel around in her chair and I would ignore her.  Thankfully, she had friends.  They were nice girls, who didn't care about her wheelchair.

Lynn died when we were seniors in high school.  I went to her funeral, but I was embarrassed to confront her parents.  I cried, and felt a lot of regret.

The important thing about Out of My Mind is that it reminded me to never let something as superficial as a wheelchair, and my worry about what others may think about me, impair my judgement about who someone really is.  Melody was much more than her wheelchair.  She was a girl with hopes and dreams and feelings and love.  She was a lot like . . . me.

-Mrs. A.