24/05/2025
The power of belongingness ❤️
My son Andrew will never get married. He won’t have children. He won’t drive a car or experience many of the milestones we take for granted.
But he is happy. And he is healthy.
And to me, that’s everything.
When a stranger gives him a smile, it lights up my entire day.
When a girl glances at him kindly, joy rushes through his whole body like a wave of sunshine.
It doesn’t take much to be deeply, profoundly human.
Let me tell you a story.
At a party held at a school for children with special needs, one father stood up to speak.
What he said stayed with everyone who heard it.
After thanking the staff who worked with such devotion, he paused and shared a reflection:
“When nothing disturbs the balance of nature, the natural order reveals itself in perfect harmony.”
Then his voice began to tremble.
“But my son Herbert doesn’t learn like other children. He doesn’t understand like they do.
So tell me… where is the natural order in his life?”
The room fell completely silent.
Then he continued:
“I believe that when a child like Herbert is born—with a physical or cognitive disability—the world is given a rare and sacred opportunity:
To reveal the very core of the human spirit.
And that spirit is revealed not through perfection—but in how we treat those who need us most.”
He shared a moment he would never forget:
One afternoon, he and Herbert were walking past a field where some boys were playing soccer.
Herbert looked longingly at them and asked:
“Dad… do you think they’ll let me play?”
The father’s heart sank. He knew the answer was likely no.
But he also knew—if they said yes—it could give his son something far more valuable than a goal: a sense of belonging.
So he gently approached one of the boys and asked:
“Would it be okay if Herbert joined the game?”
The boy looked over at his teammates, hesitated, then smiled:
“We’re losing 3–0 and there’s ten minutes left… Sure. Let him take a penalty.”
Herbert lit up.
He ran to the bench, put on a jersey that nearly swallowed him whole, and beamed with pride. His father stood at the sidelines, tears in his eyes.
He didn’t play much. He just stood nearby, watching. But something in the boys shifted.
They began to see him—not as a distraction, but as one of them.
And then, in the final minute, a miracle happened.
Herbert’s team was awarded a penalty kick.
The same boy turned to the father and gave a knowing nod:
“It’s his shot.”
Herbert walked slowly to the ball, nervous but radiant.
The goalkeeper caught on. He made a show of diving to the side, giving the boy a clear shot.
Herbert nudged the ball gently forward.
It rolled across the goal line.
Goal.
The boys erupted in cheers. They hoisted Herbert into the air like he’d won the World Cup.
They didn’t just let him play.
They let him belong.
The father closed his speech with tears falling freely:
“That day, a group of boys made a decision… not to win, but to be human.
To show the world what kindness, dignity, and love really look like.”
Herbert passed away that winter.
He never saw another summer.
But he never forgot the day he was a hero.
And his father never forgot the night he came home, telling the story as his wife held Herbert close, weeping—not from sorrow, but from joy.
A final thought:
Every day, we scroll past distractions—memes, jokes, quick laughs.
But when something truly meaningful crosses our path, we hesitate.
We wonder: Who would understand this?
Who should I send this to?
If someone sent you this story, it’s because they believe you’re one of those people.
That you see the heart in others.
That you understand what really matters.
Because each day, the world gives us countless chances to choose decency over indifference.
As one wise man said:
“A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable.”
