Reach for the Stars

We showed the house to an interested buyer tonight. When it came time to show them Jarrett's room, I had to explain why there was a big patch of fresh paint on the wall. A few years ago, Jarrett was fascinated with space, he knew every planet, every constellation, he just loved it all and always said he wanted to be an astronaut. One day I surprised him and turned his room into a space room, deep shades of blue, stars all over the walls and glow in the dark ones on the ceiling, planets that glew in the dark dangling above his bed. And In permanent marker I stenciled the words REACH FOR THE STARS !  I explained to him that no matter what anyone said about him...he was weird, dumb, immature...he could do ANYTHING he wanted to do, as long as he did his best. I used permanent maker because I didn't ever want him to forget our talk that night. I had faith in him and I wanted him to have faith in himself. A few days after Jarrett died I went in that room and broke down as I stared at those words...He would NEVER have the chance to do anything, follow any dream and those words now felt like a betrayal, a taunting mockery of every hope I ever had for him..I immediately got to work painting over what used to be my promise to my son that I would always believe in him even if he lost faith in himself. As I shared my story with the woman I saw she was holding back tears as I was...Then I started to think of all the memories I shared with my little boy in that room...could I really just walk away from this house? Anyways, I thought I'd share my memory with my FMO friends, I'm sure you all have been here...