The sky was as blue as cobalt and not a cloud was in sight. The oak tree leaves were swaying with the rhythm of the wind and the melodies of birds and bees could be heard. Footsteps were slowly fading into the distance. I stood alone arduously fighting off tears but my mind gave in and the amalgamation of tears blurred my vision. I glanced down at the marble stone where the name of a boy who altered my perspective on life was engraved on it. His name was Sam Eden.
Sam was not an ordinary boy you would see playing on the streets or strolling down the park with a happy family. Sam was a down syndrome child and at the age of 4 his parents could no longer bear the shame of having a down syndrome child and he was placed at an orphanage. From then on, Sam was in and out of fosters home by the age of 5 and has been until he was in his teens. Sam experienced many hardships throughout his life, he was always the subject of abuse and bullying while in foster homes. It came to a point where no one wanted to care for Sam and he was left at the adoption quarters.
Sam’s life had an unexpected turn of fate when he was visited by a couple who had their eyes on him the first day they met. This couple was at their late 40’s and had a stable job. They lived at a ranch with a 5 bedroom cottage and felt that it was a waste to have such a big space and yet with no soul occupying it. After days of contemplating, the couple finally made the decision to become Sam’s foster parents. This kindhearted couple was my parents.
I still remember the day Sam came into my life like it was yesterday. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, the sun was peering behind two majestic gleaming mountain tops. The scent of roses stole in with every breath of air. I was strolling outside the ranch taking in the sight trying to calm my senses. I was ecstatic when my parents told me that they were going to be foster parents to a boy, but they did not give me any further details. The crunching sounds of tires on the stone pathway stopped me in my tracks as I turned to see my parents pulling in the driveway. I squinted my eyes at the boy in the car who seemed somewhat confused and as he got out the car, I couldn’t help but feel a curious and inexplicable uneasiness in me. The boy shuffled his feet towards the house and his head was turning from side to side. At that moment, I knew for certain and without a doubt this boy was not a normal boy.
The day Sam came into my life, was the moment my life took a drastic turn. I became the joke of the year where I would be called names like ‘Nanny Sammy’. Because of this, I loathed and detested Sam. To regain my status and name, I would always join in with the crowd when they pulled jokes on Sam. The bullying was of many ranges from calling him names to slamming is food trays on the floor and when he tries to pick it up, the boys would shove him backwards where he would lay sprawled on the floor in a mess. Sometimes when I was ticked off about something, I would curse and say hurtful things at Sam and all he could do was slump at a corner and hug his knees as he rocked back and forth.
One morning before school, I was having my breakfast when Sam accidently spilled milk all over the counter top and some of the spilt milk got onto my dress. Sam trembled in fear as anger brewed up inside me. My violent and mendacious tongue broke loose and I screamed at Sam, ‘You useless creep! No wonder no one wants you!’ I stormed out if the kitchen leaving Sam to soak up the words I said. Little did I know, those hurtful words that I said would be the last words I will ever say to Sam.
It all happened during lunch break at school on the very same day. I was still a bit edgy at the incident that took place back home and I started ranting about it to my best friend Tasha when suddenly out of nowhere a man dressed in worn out shirt and jeans stormed into the cafeteria. He had a gun in his hand and he started shooting around the cafeteria. Trepidation and fear bound shackled me as I found myself rooted to the ground. It was an unadulterated pandemonium as boys and girls started running frenetically trying to avoid the bullets and save themselves from the harrowing and traumatic event.
In the midst of the all the chaos, I found myself face to face with the gun men. His eyes were wild as he scanned through the cafeteria, his hair was matted and sweat was trickling down his forehead. His nostrils flared and anger was written all over his face. My blood ran cold when his eyes stopped on me and he started strutting towards my direction and his gun was pointed right at me. Before I had time to react, I was pulled backwards by a force and I saw a puny boy stepped in front of me facing the gunmen. To my utmost horror, the boy was Sam. He struggled with the gunmen for what seemed to be a few minutes when a loud “Bang!” followed by another “Bang!” echoed across the cafeteria. The world seemed to stop at that moment, as heads turned towards the gunmen and Sam. Slowly, the gunmen’s eyes wide open trembled and fell on his back, blood pools started to form underneath him.
My eyes spotted another frail body on the floor beside the gunmen. The body was covered with blood and the boy’s chest was heaving up and down. My heart sank at the sight as I crawled towards Sam. Sam looked up and smiled at me, ‘Fahhmeelee’ he whispered. His body went limp under my hands as he heaved in his last breath. A farrago of remorse, regret and hollowness crept up on me with the force like a tidal wave. I starred frantically around and screamed for help. Students gathered around Sam’s body and the paramedics arrived. They started CPR on Sam to revive him but it was too late, Sam Eden was dead.
The rest of the day went by in a blur, the paramedics attended to the wounded students. No lives were lost because of Sam’s heroism. News reporters from every news channel gathered around outside the school trying to get insights on the catastrophe that took place. After I got home that day, I went into Sam’s room. I realized it was the first time in 6 months that I’ve ever been in his bedroom. I scanned through the four walled space and my eyes lingered on a piece of white paper on the top of his desk. I took the paper in my hands and what I saw made my heart ache as if thousands of red hot iron had been poured on it. It was a drawing of a family with a house behind them. A father, mother, a girl and a smiling boy. Underneath was written “Happy”. Tears blurred my vision and my hands began to tremble. I felt as if the rooms were to cave in on me. I was ashamed of the person I had become, because of my ignorant behavior and selfish acts I acted out horridly on the boy who never felt loved in his life. With all the taunting and harsh words towards him, he still held the reason to be happy.
The next day, a funeral was held in memory of Sam. During the funeral, I gathered up my guts to present a speech. Standing in front of the many attendees of the funeral, I poured out all the sadness and regret that had welled up in me. ‘Sam was not an ordinary boy, no. It wasn’t because of his down syndrome that made him different from the rest of us. He had something many of us don’t have. It was the gratefulness towards life.’ I said. ‘Even with his defect, he knew how to love and cherish the people around him. He knew how to forgive and forget the past mistakes of other people. I was a mean person towards Sam; I said many horrid and hateful things towards Sam that I wish I could take back. I would give everything to be able to turn back time and I know many of us would too. But instead of dallying in maudlin regret, I learnt from Sam to take every day as a life lesson and to never repeat the same mistakes ever again.’
It took a life to be sacrificed for me to wake up from my judgmental attitude. If it wasn’t for Sam, I would still be the person I was before. As the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. Many of us can talk the talk, but never walk the talk. It’s easy to be judgmental towards others who are different than us, but we have to remember that every living soul on earth comes from God. And when we judge others, we also judge God. It took a boy’s great love in his heart for me to realize this.
