“…Kathy has schizophrenia,” my mom said.  While my mom talked, I did not know what to think.  Kathy had always seemed like everyone else, but in reality, she wasn’t.  Since I was a year old, when my parents worked, Kathy and I played games, watched kids’ shows, and talked about whatever came to our minds.  When she arrived at the house, my eyes lit up in anticipation of the board games we would play and the pasta she would cook.  Never once did she get annoyed by my demand for her attention or my sore loser habits.  No matter the circumstance, I was always more important than her.  Kathy’s everlasting kindness and smile still make me smile today.

The nights after learning about Kathy’s disorder, I wondered whether Kathy’s kindness was a result of the condition.  How could a “mental disorder” have such a positive side effect?  As time went on, I began to take note of Kathy’s social abnormalities. The simplest occurrences now started to make sense.  Although Kathy was my parents’ age, her only job was babysitting my brother and me.  Kathy never had a man in her life but seemed to never want one.  The disorder clearly affected Kathy, yet that hasn’t stopped her from being the gracious person that she is.

Now a junior in high school, I sat at a side table in the restaurant Luigi’s with my mom and Kathy.  I had known about Kathy’s condition for a few years.  Voices circled the wooden walls of the large room. Kathy, meanwhile, suggested a solution to the constant annoyance all brass players deal with: the spit valve puddle.  If spit has to be continually unloaded from any given brass instrument, why does the spit always have to end up on the floor?  Kathy’s solution was a “spit sponge” that would catch all spit released from the spit valve.  After describing her invention to my mom and me, Kathy explained how she could not make any use out of her idea.  Therefore, she decided to give the idea to me, if I ever wanted to do anything with it.  She told me, “Mike, you are one of the most important people in my life, and I wouldn’t want anyone else to have it.”

I now do not talk about Kathy’s condition often. Nonetheless, Kathy represents more than just a babysitter.  She regularly comes down for dinner and never misses one of my band concerts.  Through battling the hurdles of life, Kathy supports my every move and brightens my worst days.  Whether I break up with my girlfriend or get a bad grade on a test, Kathy’s everlasting kindness and smile always cheer me up.  Since Kathy makes such a difference in my life, she motivates me to be the best person I can be.  With Kathy as inspiration, I want to push through adversity and make the most out of life that I can.