What an amazing kid!

A few months ago, Matt received the application to enter the 'Reflections' contest. Matt is a really amazing writer. Seriously, I don't think I wrote as well as he does when I was in high school! (insert sarcastic commentary on my high school education here)...... He has been working on a trilogy of books since last year. So, in the year he's had malignant brain cancer and short term memory loss, he has also written 3 long books (about 40 pages each) that are really engaging and fun to read. So, anyway, back to Reflections. Matt wanted to enter book 1 of his trilogy, "The quest for peace". We got all set to submit it and realized that for literature there is a word limit. Darn. Matt was upset, so I encouraged him to write something else. He came up with this poem (the theme for the year, was "WOW!").


Baby Jake

This marvel, my brother, he's better than any other.
He's cute, loveable, and extremely huggable.
I love him, as he loves me,
It's because we're family, you see.
Jake's cute and gentle, so I write about him with my pencil.
My littlest brother, one of my best friends, the love that we share just has no end!

I still remember the day Jake was born.
It was during the evening, not early morn.
When I first saw this small child, I thought,
"He's my brother, so tiny, meek, and mild."
But as I watch, Jake is growing each day.
In fact, he has even started crawling away!

Jake's growing and watching, so each and every day, you can bet that I'm trying to choose the right way!

Jake is a wonderful gift, no doubt.
Sometimes I wonder how I could ever be without this baby,
which Heavenly Father has given to me to take care of,
and hope he grows up to be like me!
This tiny boy grows so fast each day that I - I just don't know what to say
except........
WOW!!!!!

A few weeks after Matt submitted his poem, he told me they had an assembly for Reflections. He said he had been asked to read his poem, but that he hadn't won anything. Oh well. However, a week or so ago, I received the school newsletter that said Matt had been one of the first prize winners in literature for his school. The next day, I received a letter inviting him to a district wide awards ceremony that also mentioned he had not only won at the school level, but also the city level! Then, just on Sunday, we received a telephone call that said his poem had also won at the regional level and was going on to be judged at the State level! I am so proud of him!

I was really worried when I found out Matt had won at the school level, but hadn't realized he had been chosen as a winner. We're always worried about Matt's memory, if he is missing things at school, etc..... and for him to 'miss' something like this is pretty significant! Once I spoke with the Reflections coordinators, though, I felt a lot better. They said that at the school level, they don't use 'winner' language. Every child gets recognized. She said that she didn't think it was strange for him to not realize he had won. That made me feel so so so much better! Now I can just help him enjoy his success!