AI FREE ZONE
When I was a boy, somewhere between the ages of Seven and Nine, my mother had been pulled into school for a meeting with the headteacher. This was a common occurrence as my school life was, and remained a minefield of built up frustration, anger and boredom.
I was undiagnosed for dyslexia. My brain was both undernourished and overstimulated at school. I was unable to concentrate, unable to learn, but also inquisitive and remarkably bright. I was, in almost everyway, a oxymoron, a walking contradiction.
We were walking home after the meeting. I remember crossing the playing field, and onto the street that led up to our road. It was a steep, short hill with the road to the left and a house to the right with tall fences. My mum was talking about the future, about what I wanted to do when I grew up. I naturally had no idea, and this remains to be true even to this day, although I am heading in a direction.
She said “When you find what you want to do, you will fly”.
That memory, those words have stayed with me for all these years. It’s not something I think of more than once every couple of years, neither do I ponder over them when they do arise.
What I am trying to say, is that my family supported me, when no one else did. My mother told me the things I wasn’t able to hear anywhere else, and those words have stayed with me thoughout the years.
I often wonder where I would be, if she was not there to support me. What strange life would I be living? Would I be in prison? Would I be homeless? A drug addict? A drunk? Would I have been the places I have been? Would I have seen the wonders of the earth I had?
If my mother had not raised me with the love and care she did, I am convinced my life would be one of destitute and sorrow.
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