that red ball down to town

In two separate incidents over the past 24 hours, I've learned that I'm not as gentle a touch as people sometimes need me to be. In one case it was told to me pointedly; in the other, I simply observed an amazing person work absolute magic with a student I cannot touch. I can almost see my words bouncing off his pale forehead and falling like crumbs, getting caught in the fibers of his sweater. He shakes me off time after time.

We sat with him today ... she, communicating; I, absorbing the love and efficience in everything she said and did. I felt like the kid in PE who keeps throwing the ball in a game where you're supposed to roll it. And my aim is terrible anyway; the ball goes in the street, the kid goes to chase it and keeps having to dodge oncoming traffic. And, as she showed me without telling, sometimes he gets grazed by a speeding car.

I need to learn to roll, and in the right direction.