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my bro - he's famous; heads up to Dol
Topic Started: May 14 2007, 06:19 AM (520 Views)
apple
one of the angels
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/106067.html

(for the pics)

MYSTERY SOLVED | At funeral, family meets mother’s special student
Johnny thanks his teacher
When an article in The Star told of a woman’s pioneering work in the 1960s in the field of special education, a south Kansas City man came forward.
By JOE ROBERTSON
The Kansas City Star

Lois Mayes
For a moment, no one knew the man in the dark suit who came late to Lois Mayes’ visitation.

It was time for the funeral to start. The organ’s soft chords had settled people into their seats. A hush had fallen.

But here he came, walking purposefully up the aisle. In his hand, he held a newspaper clipping — the one that told how 42 years ago, Mayes started the first class in Kansas City to teach children who otherwise would’ve been labeled as mentally retarded.

She knew Johnny could read, the headline read. It referred to a boy Mayes remembered all these years later only as “Johnny.”

The man stood alone at the casket while more than 100 mourners watched. He reached a hand to the bright satin folds.

Linda Derby, one of Mayes’ daughters, watched him kneel, make the sign of the cross and bow his head. She realized who he was.

“I didn’t want him to be up there alone,” Derby said.

When she went up to him, he stood and turned to her.

“This is me,” he said, holding up the newspaper story.

“I know,” Derby said. “We’ve been looking for you, Johnny.”

They had found John Bryde, a 49-year-old south Kansas Citian. A college graduate with a math degree. And a mail sorter for the U.S. Postal Service who hasn’t missed a day of work in 21 years.

Mayes, who died April 26, had lost track of Johnny. So had her daughters, who remembered their mother’s pioneering work in the 1960s in the emerging field of learning-disabled education. They remembered the one boy she talked of more than any other.

He was a 7-year-old who was brilliant with numbers and had an intense awareness of his world but who couldn’t read and could hardly speak.

Four decades later, Mayes, 93, was suffering from heart disease and infections that could no longer be treated. She went into hospice care for her final days in April at her home in rural Cass County.

With two of her daughters at her bedside, she shared her memories with The Star. Johnny came to represent all those children over the years who could learn with the right care, with lessons bent to each child’s special needs.

The idea arose to try to find Johnny. But no one could get his last name right, and the story ran without knowing what became of him.

The morning the story appeared, Derby read it to her mother as she lay in her bed. That’s nice, Lois Mayes said. It was the last day she was conscious.

Mildred Bryde picked up the same paper that morning from her front yard in south Kansas City. She saw Mayes’ name by her picture, and she saw “Johnny” in the headline. She knew at that moment that “Johnny” was her son.

She and her husband, who died three years ago, had always felt a deep debt to Mayes, she said. She called The Star so she could contact Mayes and her family.

“John got so much from Mrs. Mayes,” Mildred Bryde said. “It was wonderful. … He got a lot of good skills, a positive attitude all the way through.”

Bryde copes with his disability, he said. Communicating can be awkward for him. But he reads, he’s a whiz with numbers, and his mind seizes on details and stores them in an impressive memory.

The skills have served him well in his work at the Postal Service’s distribution center at 75th Street and Troost Avenue. He has memorized the routes within the 64131 ZIP code and, among his duties, quickly distributes carts of mail into 30 letter carriers’ boxes.

“He’s a good worker, and kind and generous,” said Nancy McCarty, a mail sorter who has worked with Bryde through the years. “He’s got a real sense of humor and he sings while he works.”

Co-worker Bonnie Little said: “He’s very conscientious about making sure people get their mail. He’s very good with numbers.”

The Brydes’ and Mayes’ families talked on the phone about meeting but postponed their plans when Mayes died. The Brydes decided they would go to the funeral, John Bryde said, “to say special prayers.”

Later in the service, after Mayes’ granddaughter, Kendra Flores, shared family memories, the minister asked if anyone else had anything to share. Just when he was about to move on, the minister saw the hand in the back. John’s hand.

John Bryde moved to the front of the church. He told about his school days with Mayes, the rewards, the reprimands, the snacks — all the attention to detail by a teacher who was determined to shepherd children so many others couldn’t or wouldn’t teach.

When he was done, the people set aside the decorum of silence and applauded.

“It was one of the best moments I’ve ever seen,” Derby said. “A student coming to say goodbye to his teacher.”

To reach Joe Robertson
it behooves me to behold
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
What an outstanding story - we need more of these.

Thanks, Apple. I am glad for your brother, and grateful to his teacher, andto all teachers who go above and beyond the expected to achieve the outstanding.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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justme
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HOLY CARP!!!
very moving.

Thanks, apple!
"Men sway more towards hussies." G-D3
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Friday
Senior Carp
Thank you for sharing this very touching story, Apple.
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Man.... (I think I got some dust in my eye, or something....)

Thanks for this story. :thumb: :) :clap:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
what a beautiful story, apple
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RosemaryTwo
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HOLY CARP!!!
So wonderful that he made it to the funeral. What character.
"Perhaps the thing to do is just to let stupid run its course." Aqua
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
God bless her -- thanks for the story Mary, you must be quite proud!
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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LadyElton
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What a wonderful, touching story. Thank you for sharing. :hug:
Hilary aka LadyElton
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
What a wonderful story, apple - thanks for posting that!
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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TomK
HOLY CARP!!!
Lovely, lovely story, apple. Good for your brother. :thumb:
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dolmansaxlil
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HOLY CARP!!!
What a fantastic story! That's wonderful that he went to the funeral, and that he's made himself such a success.

This type of story is exactly why I teach - I hope I can do the same thing for my kids. :)
"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson

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