Officer M.

It's hard being an outsider.  Imagine yourself as a 14 year old deaf boy being bussed to a neighboring high school.  Not because there isn't a school in your community, but because your own school can't accommodate your needs.  You watch as other kids talk and laugh together knowing you can't participate because you can't hear them and they can't sign for you.  You spend much of your time in a small classroom with adults; isolated and separated from other students. That's the life of a boy who recently arrived at my kids' high school.   He is an outsider.  But then came Officer M.... 

Officer M. is a security officer at the school.  She loves her job because she loves the kids.  She talks with them, jokes with them, hugs them, and makes sure they're making good choices.  She also wears a hearing aid in each ear.  She too, knows what it's like to be an outsider.  And now, she has become the bridge to belonging for this boy.  She walks with him around the school introducing him to students and staff.  She spends time with him, talks with him (she spent time brushing up on her signing), encourages him and laughs with him.  He's beginning to change.  He used to walk with his head down.  Now, he holds his head up so he can see the students who are waving and giving him high fives.  He smiles.  He's beginning to belong.  It's a beautiful thing to see.  And all of this, because someone has taken the time to bridge the gap between outsider and member.

I know what it's like to be an outsider.  It's hard.  It's lonely.  It's uncomfortable.  I've been blessed to have wonderful people be that bridge for me.  I am forever grateful for them.  And Officer M. reminds me to be the bridge for someone else...