A Special Friend

"Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same."

I have been blessed to have a special friend in my life. For his privacy, I will call him "Robert". I met Robert via a friend of mine. I have had the opportunity recently to get to know Robert better as he has been living next door to me. Robert was born with special needs, however due to my own feelings of awkwardness, I have never taken the time to ask his parents what exactly has caused Robert to be so special. When I first met him a couple years ago, Robert was a very shy and quiet boy around me. I took it upon myself to not allow this to keep me from approaching him; socializing with him, and making him feel welcome around me whenever he was in my presence. As time has gone by, Robert has opened up to me. He follows me around, sits and has in-depth conversations with me, tells me funny jokes, and now I consider him a good friend. As I watch Robert daily, I have learned of so many things in life that I take for granted. Robert enjoys the simplicity of life and he has no real worries. He recently celebrated his 14th birthday. While watching him open up his presents, which mostly consisted of Lego’s, his eyes lit up with excitement, and I could see the wheels in his head spinning while he was dreaming of the possibilities he could design with his new toys. With Robert living next door to me, it has been fun watching him interact with my dogs and cats. Bella follows him around all day with a Frisbee in her mouth just waiting for him to throw it for her and pet her. Bella does not care how poorly the Frisbee is thrown for her, she is just happy to have such a caring friend to play with. Mo, my cat that likes no one and prefers people stay away from him has taken such a liking to Robert. He walks up to him and rubs against his legs purring, and strangely enough he allows Robert to pick him up and hull him around the yard for hours. Mo does not even allow me to pick him up. I can't help but think that Robert is such a special boy. I believe that animals have a keen sense of whom they can trust and whom they can love. I know my pets really love the young boy who has come into their life as a stranger and became their friend. Robert moved away today. Although I will of course miss his siblings and parents in my life daily, more than anything, I will miss going out and seeing Roberts always smiling face, funny stories, and the special twinkle in his eyes that I feel only special children like him can truly create.