The R-Word

Did you know that March 3 is a day of many untraditional and off-beat holidays and observances? I Want You to Be Happy Day, Peach Blossom Day, National Anthem Day, National Cold Cuts Day and National Mulled Wine Day. (Who comes up with this stuff anyway?) The red-letter day on my calendar, however, is much more significant.

Today is National Awareness Day for Spread the Word to End the Word, a nationwide movement to promote the acceptance and inclusion of those with intellectual disabilities. The campaign invites people, particularly students, to stop using “retard(ed)” in a derogatory way.

Interestingly, my sister recently posted the following on her Facebook page:

I clicked on Judi’s Facebook link to CNN and started watching the news clip on the word retard. Little did I know Caleb walked up behind me and was watching it with me. I immediately stopped the news clip.

I said to Caleb, “That’s not a very nice word, is it?”

His matter-of-fact response? “Mom, retard means late ... in French.” And he walked away without a care.

(I checked freetranslation.com and discovered retard in French means delay.)

Wouldn’t it be great if we could all see it as Caleb does? If my son can understand the word in the true context it was meant, you would think the rest of the world would, too.

Amen, sistah!

And for the record, when talking about Caleb, the “R-word” I use is “Remarkable!”