Many years ago, my mother had a feeling that something was not right with her middle son. She had yet to speak, and my mother thought that was a bit strange. But, every time she mentioned it to the doctors, they all told her not to worry about it because children are late.

Something just didn’t feel right. Fortunately, my mother listened to her instincts because her instincts were correct when one day she became a nuisance at the doctor’s office. She would no longer accept that boys are just late. In fact, she refused to leave the doctor’s office until he ran additional tests. He wanted to know why his little boy still wasn’t talking, and he wasn’t going to give in until someone found out why.

After additional tests were performed, the medical experts came back with both good and bad news. The good news, well, kind of the good news, was that her middle son was deaf, and fortunately, surgery could fix that problem. The bad news was that although they were able to restore their son’s hearing, by the time it was fixed, it would be too late for him to speak. He was going to miss too many years of hearing the language during his vital formative years.

My mom’s gut told her the experts were wrong. She felt that she could find someone who would beat the odds and teach her son to speak. My mother’s gut instincts were right again. She found this little nun who didn’t care what the experts said. And after a lot of hard work, she taught that boy to speak! All these years later, some people say that now I won’t shut up. Imagine that!

Now, as my grandfather always said: “Go learn, lead and pave the way to a better world for all of us.” Parents, my mom taught me to trust my instincts; and when she didn’t, she usually regretted it. She trusts your instincts. Our Creator gave us those instincts for a reason. And once again, parents, thank you in advance for all that you do and for all that you will do…