War Cry - April, 2013 Page 26

The War Cry | APRIL 2013

"People always think about bully-
ing as the guy that's just pushing
people around,"

says Baltimore Ravens

linebacker Jameel McClain. "But mentally and
verbally abusing someone is the thing that is
most damaging."

He seems an unlikely victim of bullying, but

as a child, he was mocked for his threadbare
clothing and because his family called a Salva-
tion Army shelter home for about a year in their
hometown of Philadelphia. McClain is one of
four players featured in "NFL Characters Unite,"
a USA Network documentary that probes their
experiences with childhood bullying and dis-
crimination.

He has become a big supporter of The Salva-

tion Army, giving back to the group that helped
his family during that difficult year of homeless-
ness, as well as other charities.

As part of the documentary, McClain was

paired with an 8-year-old boy from a Salvation
Army shelter whose family is going through the
kind of housing difficulties that the Raven de-
fenseman faced.

McClain, who did not play in the Super Bowl

due to an injury, said the pair connected as the
boy learned that what was happening to him
also happened to the football star.

When he took his protege shopping, they

made sure to pick some items that the young-
ster thought people he knew might need. "That
was the idea we came up with ... to show how
to give to others," McClain said. "I believe that
truly is what empowers you."

Source: Jean Marbella, The Baltimore Sun, February 1, 2013

Baltimore Ravens'
Jameel McClain
is Tough on Bullying

I am often asked to

describe the experience

of raising a child with a

disability--to try to help

people who have not

shared that unique experi-

ence to understand it, to

imagine how it would feel.

It's like this--

When you're going to

have a baby, it's like planning
a fabulous vacation trip�to
Italy. You buy a bunch of
guide books and make your
wonderful plans. The Coli-
seum. The Michelangelo Da-
vid. The gondolas in Venice.
You may learn some handy
phrases in Italian. It's all very
exciting.

After months of eager

anticipation, the day finally
arrives. You pack your bags
and off you go. Several hours
later, the plane lands. The
stewardess comes in and
says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say.

"What do you mean Hol-
land?? I signed up for Italy!
I'm supposed to be in Italy.
All my life I've dreamed of
going to Italy."

But there's been a change

in the flight plan. They've
landed in Holland and there
you must stay.

The important thing is that

they haven't taken you to
a horrible, disgusting, filthy
place, full of pestilence, fam-
ine and disease. It's just a dif-
ferent place.

So you must go out and

buy new guide books. And
you must learn a whole new
language. And you will meet
a whole new group of people
you would never have met.

It's just a different place.

It's slower-paced than Italy,
less flashy than Italy. But
after you've been there for
a while and you catch your
breath, you look around ...
and you begin to notice that
Holland has windmills ... and
Holland has tulips. Holland
even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is

busy coming and going from
Italy ... and they're all brag-
ging about what a wonderful
time they had there. And for
the rest of your life, you will
say "Yes, that's where I was
supposed to go. That's what
I had planned."

And the pain of that will

never, ever, ever, ever go
away... because the loss of
that dream is a very very sig-
nificant loss.

But ... if you spend your life

mourning the fact that you
didn't get to Italy, you may
never be free to enjoy the
very special, the very lovely
things ... about Holland.

sha

enc

ima

It's

have
a fab

GIVING BACK

PARENTING

by EMILY PERL KINGSLEY

*This is the essay cited in "Life With Isabelle" on pg. 11

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