Dear Travis Rudolph, at First I Didn't Want to Say Thank You

Today I was having coffee with some of my girlfriends and they mentioned,  "Did you see the FSU player (Travis Rudolph) that sat with the little autistic boy at lunch?"  I had briefly seen it, and we all generally agreed that it didn't make any sense for the media to laud him as though he is Mother Theresa.

But it made me think...what if it were my son sitting all alone at lunch?  This may happen in years to come.  Perhaps this man will make a difference for this one little boys' lunch experience for the rest of the school year.  Mother Teresa, no.  Kind, yes.  

As the mother of a child of Autism, I realize that communication is one of the hardest aspects of life for him.  The same goes for many of his peers.  What did that mean to this football player?  He probably had to struggle to talk to this little guy.  Unless he is familiar with children with communication issues, it may have really tried his patience.  He did it though, and that makes my mommy heart glad.

I had sort of passed through all of those feelings when I read this Bleacher Report article on Facebook.  The little boy's mom made a point to say how much Travis's act of kindness meant to her.  She described her son as very sweet, with a hug for everyone. I stopped short.  It grabbed me in the pit of my stomach because I can see me.  I see my son.  Her son didn't eat by himself that day.  That day, his mom didn't struggle with her own feelings about her child being lonely, though he may not express it.  So thank you, Travis Rudolph.  Thank you to everyone that goes out of your way to make sure that this child, and MY CHILD, doesn't eat alone.

STANDARD FTC DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please note that I only endorse products that are in alignment with Stained with Style's ideals and that I believe would be of value to my readers. Stained with Style is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  Stained with Style is also a participant in the Ting and Instant Pot affiliates programs.