Story Submitted by Caroline Brown

When my son was very young he was an extremely challenging child. He had A.D.H.D., O.C.D. and extremely difficult behavior. Virtually no one could control or handle him. At the time when he was going through his worst behavior, he was attending a Religious school where there was a young Rabbi. My son, Tyler, would not sit in class, nor would he behave even when punished. He was an incredibly difficult child, and it took a toll on me, my husband and anyone that had to deal with him. I remember sitting in that young Rabbi’s office, practically crying to him, and telling him I was literally at my wits end. The young Rabbi, having little to no experience in dealing with children, sat and listened to me. He didn’t say anything for the longest time. When he spoke, he said these words to me: “Your son is going to make you so proud of him one day” I responded by merely smiling and nodding my head. As I left the Rabbi’s office I though to myself ” You poor, poor deluded man. You honestly have no clue what you are saying, or what I am dealing with”. Several years later my family and I got very involved in local community theater and it appeared that Tyler had some ability to perform on stage. Actually as it turned out he was very talented. He performed in several musicals and plays. During Tyler’s ninth grade year the director of a High School for fine and performing arts came to me asked if I would be willing to allow my son to attend his program at the High School for Performing Arts. I asked Tyler if he wanted to go to that High School, he was very excited to join the program. We immediately took him out of his High School and enrolled him at the High School for performing arts. He excelled in the theater, and was involved in several of the shows in the years that followed. During Tyler’s 11th grade year, the Director of the theater program wrote a musical and Tyler got the opportunity to play the lead role in the show. Later the show was entered into a competition at the Florida Theater Conference. Watching my son, perform in a show, playing the lead role and then winning an award for his performance was an incredible moment in my life. A moment I will never forget. My heart was so full of joy! He truly had made me proud of him. More proud than I could ever have imagined. That Rabbi must have seen something that I could not see at that time. When I think about this story, all I can do is smile!