Many of you know I am a speech therapist that works with children, ages 3-5. Many of my students have developmental delays or are medically fragile.
Today, one of my little one's mom called me at home.
One of the little ones I work with died on Saturday. His mom, in the midst of her grief, thought enough to call me to tell me.
He had leukemia, but seemed to have come through the worst of it. He'd had in-home speech therapy and developmental special education for 2 1/2 years, but the doctors and parents felt he was finally strong enough to come to preschool. I have been his speech therapist since this summer.
This little one was a ray of sunshine. He always had a smile, and the other children at preschool loved to play with him. Even if I was asking him to try something harder to do, he would always attempt to do it. He grew so much developmentally, that he was dismissed from special education services last month. He simply needed to continue to work on articulation (speech sounds) so he would be more easily understood. I was planning on dismissing him by the end of the school year, as he was doing that well.
I saw him last Tuesday--his regular day for speech. He was all smiles and gave me a big hug when we were done.
I will miss him tremendously. Please keep his parents and family in your thoughts and prayers*. His parents have faith that he is at peace and is in the arms of Love.