An Opening Chapter Inspired This Writer

"Words.
I'm surrounded by thousands of words. Maybe millions.
Cathedral. Mayonnaise. Pomegranate.
Mississippi. Neapolitan. Hippopotamus.
Silky. Terrifying. Iridescent.
Tickle. Sneeze. Wish. Worry.

Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes -- each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands.

Deep within me, words pile up in huge drifts. Mountains of phrases and sentences and connected ideas. Clever expressions. Jokes. Love songs.

From the time I was really little -- maybe just a few months old -- words were like sweet, liquid gifts, and I drank them like lemonade. I could almost taste them. They made my jumbled thoughts and feelings have substance. My parents have always blanketed me with conversation. They chattered and babbled. They verbalized and vocalized. My father sand to me. My mother whispered her strength into my ear.

Every word my parents spoke to me or about me I absorbed and kept and remembered. All of them.

I have no idea how I untangled the complicated process of words and thought, but it happened quickly and naturally. By the time I was two, all my memories had words, and all my words had meanings.

But only in my head.

I have never spoken one single word. I am almost eleven years old." 
~Sharon M Draper, Author of "Out of My Mind"

The only reason I stumbled on this book is because my daughter was assigned to read it and after reading the book jacket, I "borrowed" it from her. A wonderful and essential read.

Initially, I was going to recommend to educators yet as I thought about it, everyone should read this book. As inclusion in our classrooms and society blossoms, so should our knowledge and outlooks. I'm thankful to have a mother who exposed and encouraged an inclusion mindset from the moment we were old enough to understand.

We were never taught to whisper, 
look away, or talk negatively about people. 

My parents told us we had our quirks too but 
had the ability to hide them better than others. 

Mom said everyone has gifts and talents but 
some struggle to express or display them for others to see. 

After reading this book, my appreciation of this life lesson 
combined with my daily joy of teaching...
confirm my mother's statement to be truth. 

"Everyone has gifts and talents but some 
struggle to express or display them for others to see." 

What gift or talent do you struggle to express?
What's holding you back?
Who helped to release your inner brilliance?