In a way it is as if Jenny is standing behind a screen
a screen we cannot see.
Maybe it has beautiful colors.
Maybe the colors distract
Jenny at times from paying attention
when we talk to her.
Or perhaps she listens to music we cannot hear.
It is said
that fish have language and a music of their own
carried by the waves.
Music we cannot hear because our ears
are not fine enough.
So Jenny might hear sounds we never hear.
Maybe that is why she jumps up at times
and goes into her awkward dance.
I sometimes think Jenny is like a bird,
a bird with very short wings.
For such a bird,flying is hard;
ıt takes more strength,more effort,more time.
A bird with normal wings takes flying for granted
but a bird with short wings
has to work much harder at learning.
In a way,it has to be smarter.
And so ,therefore,we have to understand
how much Jeny has accomplished
when she does learn something.
But there is another Jenny
A Jenny who,on a stormy winter afternoon,
sits in her little rocking chair alone
and rocks,
holding her doll in her arms.
She is very troubled and puzzled,
and she says ,slowly
Mommy,
Sally says I am retarded
What does it mean mommy?
Retarded?
The children say retared,and laugh.
Why do they laugh Mommy?
There are many things Jenny does not understand.
And there are many things other people donot
understand about Jenny;
That Jenny is like
a kitten witout a tail;
that Jenny hears a different music;
that Jenny is like a bird with
shorter wings and has to be protected.
Jenny is like a blue rose,
delicate and lovely.
And because there are so few blue roses,
we donot know much about them.
WE ONLY KNOW
THAT THEY HAVE TO BE TENDED MORE CAREFULLY
AND LOVED MORE.
Condensed from the book by Gerda Klein.
