'She Only Knew How to Love'

I have been blessed with four children-one of them severely handicapped. Her name was Tiffany, and she was severely autistic. Although she couldn't speak, Tiffany only knew how to love people.

Every day my father would come over just to take her for a walk by the creek. She loved to throw rocks into it and watch the ripples. She would giggle so hard--it was almost like she had her own connection to God.

One weekend when Tiffany was 12 years old, we went to watch my oldest daughter Becky's baseball tournament. That was the most beautiful time we ever had with Tiffany. She never once hit herself--an upsetting symptom of her form of autism--and she just showered love on each and every one of us.

At the end of the tournament, the officials handed out awards on the field. Becky won the MVP trophy. Suddenly Tiffany walked out to the pitcher's mound.

Everyone watched because this was very out of character for her. She lifted her hands above her head and started twirling around in circles, laughing so hard that it became contagious. We were all full of joy.

The really strange part was that tears were rolling down her face. It was such a beautiful moment, and it touched so many people. It was the first time that we had ever seen her shed a tear out of joy and not out of hurting herself.

I had no idea what was to come...
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