When the Good Lord was creating
mothers, He was into his sixth day of "overtime" when an angel appeared
and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."
And the Lord said "Have you read the specs on this order? She has to be
completely washable, but not plastic, have 180 moveable parts - all
replaceable, run on black coffee and leftovers, have a lap that
disappears when she stands up, a kiss that can cure anything from a
broken leg to a disappointed love affair and six pairs of hands, ears
that will hear things she doesn't want to hear, a mouth that
can gently kiss away scrapes and bruises and yet tear the hide right
off of those who try anything against the best interests of her child.
Yes, this model will have to be able to sit patiently and listen to
outlandish reports about her child without flinching. She will have to
hear how hopeless it all is and know that it isn't so. She will have to
have those kinds of eyes which don't tear when she hears other mothers
talk about how well things are going for their children." The angel
shook its head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands, yet? No way."
"It's not the hands that are causing the problems," said the
Lord. "It's the three pairs of eyes this mother has to
have." "That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. The Lord nodded
and said, " One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks,
"What are you kids doing in there?" when she already knows. Another
pair here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what
she has to know and, of course, the ones here in front that can look at
a child when he goofs up for the 99th time and say, "I understand and I
love you anyway" without so much as uttering a word.
"Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve gently, "come to bed. Tomorrow!"
"I can't," answered the Lord, "I am so close to creating something so
close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick,
feeds a family of six on one pound of hamburger and gets her
nine-year-old to stand under a shower."
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. "It's too
soft," it sighed. "But tough!" said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot
imagine what this mother can do or endure." "Can it think?" asked the
angel. "Not only can it think," said the Creator, "it can reason and
compromise."
Finally, the angel bent over and ran a finger across the
cheek. "There is a leak," it pronounced. "I told you that you were
trying to put too much into this model." "That's not a leak, said the
Lord, "it's a tear." "What's it for?" asked the angel. "Tears are for
joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride…..this model
will know a lot about all that." answered the Lord. "But you know" He
continued, "I don't even remember putting that tear there." "By the
way", asked the angel, "what will you call this model?" I will call
this one simply the mother of an autistic child."
