MY NAME IS JERRY
It was getting very hot in Ft. Myers as I drove over one of their long, expansive bridges towards Pine Island, where I was staying. I saw an amusement park where there was a huge ferris wheel and stopped to walk around and get a coca-cola.
There was hardly anyone there as I tried my luck at winning a Valentine teddy bear by attempting to knock over a pyramid of bottles. I was just headed towards the car when I heard a boy sobbing and looked to see a mother trying to console her son.
He looked to be about 16 but I found out later he was 27 and mentally challenged. He was crying because he wanted to ride the ferris wheel and they wouldn't allow him to ride unaccompanied; his Mum wouldn't ride any of the rides.
When I introduced myself and asked if she would let him ride with me as I ddin't like to ride by myself, he stopped crying and jumped up and down like a 5 year old. As she held his cotton candy for him, he took my hand in his warm, big one while I bought tickets for 2 rides.
During the ride, he screamed with delight and I felt profound joy in riding too. We were like two kids in a candy store! The wind in our hair, the sound of laughter and the feeling that time stood still for just us two strangers, now friends. When the ride ended and he asked to ride again, I produced the other ticket and he KISSED my cheek.
I had asked him his name twice but he wouldn't tell me. During the second ride, I asked him again and still, he just smiled.
When the second ride was over and we wobbily walked off, he ran to his mother and they hugged. She thanked me as I told them both good-bye and began to walk towards the crowded parking lot. I heard him say: "M'am? M'am?"
I smiled and turned around to wave when I heard him shout: "My name is Jerry; Jerry with a Y."
God bless you, Jerry (with a Y) as you go through this wonderful life God has given each of us. It's all about caring and sharing as this wonderful, young man chose to share a precious gift with me.......his name.
It was getting very hot in Ft. Myers as I drove over one of their long, expansive bridges towards Pine Island, where I was staying. I saw an amusement park where there was a huge ferris wheel and stopped to walk around and get a coca-cola.
There was hardly anyone there as I tried my luck at winning a Valentine teddy bear by attempting to knock over a pyramid of bottles. I was just headed towards the car when I heard a boy sobbing and looked to see a mother trying to console her son.
He looked to be about 16 but I found out later he was 27 and mentally challenged. He was crying because he wanted to ride the ferris wheel and they wouldn't allow him to ride unaccompanied; his Mum wouldn't ride any of the rides.
When I introduced myself and asked if she would let him ride with me as I ddin't like to ride by myself, he stopped crying and jumped up and down like a 5 year old. As she held his cotton candy for him, he took my hand in his warm, big one while I bought tickets for 2 rides.
During the ride, he screamed with delight and I felt profound joy in riding too. We were like two kids in a candy store! The wind in our hair, the sound of laughter and the feeling that time stood still for just us two strangers, now friends. When the ride ended and he asked to ride again, I produced the other ticket and he KISSED my cheek.
I had asked him his name twice but he wouldn't tell me. During the second ride, I asked him again and still, he just smiled.
When the second ride was over and we wobbily walked off, he ran to his mother and they hugged. She thanked me as I told them both good-bye and began to walk towards the crowded parking lot. I heard him say: "M'am? M'am?"
I smiled and turned around to wave when I heard him shout: "My name is Jerry; Jerry with a Y."
God bless you, Jerry (with a Y) as you go through this wonderful life God has given each of us. It's all about caring and sharing as this wonderful, young man chose to share a precious gift with me.......his name.
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