my best life 07.03.17.245A

He entered my room in his yellow pajamas with a giggle
under his breathe. “You made quite an entrance today…”
he said sticking his hand out as he introduced himself.
“My name is John, I just wanted to make sure you were
alright.”
Standing up, I shook his hand and said “Thank you.”
He proceeded to tell me he was a three year veteran of the
institution and had seen it all. Laughingly, he said my
performance today was entertaining and told me that he
had never seen a white boy move so fast.
That made me laugh. I had a small tear, but John helped
me transition my anger and it was suddenly in the past.
He put his hand on my shoulder and walked me to dinner.
When we arrived in the dining area, we found a table in
the corner and sat together. I learned that John suffered
from seizures and had a history of emotional outbursts
that kept him unemployed and alienated from his family.
John was taking lots of medication and it helped, most of
the time. He seemed to calmly accept the fact that this
institution was likely going to be his home for the rest of
his life.
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