Kids at school were cruel. They’d call her flaky. crazy,
space cadet, airhead. She’d forget their names or where
she was going. School bells and fire alarms would echo
in her head, and her world would blur. The mockery was
momentary. The misery would be incessant.
The last week of school, classmates autographed her
yearbook with the labels and comments they’d hurled
to her at school. The five-minute walk home was endless.
At home, she flopped on her bed and muffled her sobs
with pillows, bursting her dam of tears.
No one knew what she’d been through. No one knew she’d
had brain surgery as a child. No one knew she had epilepsy.
Everyone could see her big head. The boys would flick it and
tug at her hair when the teacher wasn’t looking. She would
wince, but dared not weep. Feigning fearlessness was her
armor that would be rusted by tears. As time passed, the bullies
were gone, but some labels remain.
Gus Walz stands in full view of the nation. His dad is running
for vice-president of the United States. His son has a nonverbal
learning disorder. He has no armor. He needs no armor. His dad
starts to speak. That’s my dad! he yells to the audience. His tears
flow freely. They are borne of pride, not shame. Cameras focus on him.
His tears of pride are posted on computers coast to coast. His
joy is fodder for their jokes.
They knew there was something wrong with him.What they don’t
know is kindness. They have much to learn from people like Gus.
Author’s Note: Gus Walz at the DNC being bullied by adults who should know better reminded me of own experience of being bullied in school for behavior that no one understood
Shelly Blankman lives in Columbia, Maryland with her husband of 44 years. They have two sons, Richard and Joshua, who live in New York and Texas, respectively. They have filled their empty nest with four rescue cats and a dog. Richard and Joshua surprised Shelly with the publication of her first book of poetry, Pumpkinhead. Her poems have appeared in The Ekphrastic Review, Verse-Virtual, Muddy River Poetry Review, and Open Door Magazine, among others.