Miracle Worker

Two years ago life was hard--really hard. We didn't know what we were going to do. We prayed. We fasted. We went to the temple and then Cindy Madsen was sent to us. Cindy came--a literal angel, a miracle worker, a salve, a savior on Mount Zion--to rescue Coleman and, therefore, the rest of us.

She took him into her home. She read to him about Winston Churchill, the Magna Carta, the Knights Templar, birds, poetry, Joseph Smith, and her children's missionary letters. She patiently taught him math and handwriting and geography. She helped him carve away at it day after day after day. She assigned him reading about Ben Franklin, Molly Pitcher, Thomas Jefferson, Corrie Ten Boom, and Nicholas. She took him to symphonys, operas, quartets, museum exhibits, and plays. She hugged him everyday as he walked into her home. The first year, her daughter Caroline was there, too, but the second year, she woke up every day and gave 6 hours of her day to teach Coleman and another neighbor boy, Nathan, while her own children were in high school, serving missions, or attending BYU.

She fed them lunches and smoothies and bagels. She taught Coleman how to ride a long board, feed peanuts to the birds, and how to love learning again. She did all this while she was a mother of her own 4 children, wife of a lawyer and stake president, young women president, and devoted daughter of two new widows.

She changed all of our lives, but especially Coleman's. His cousin wears a shirt that says, "I CRIED (for joy) ON THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL" and the thing with Coleman is, he really did cry on the last day of school (both years) but not because they were tears of joy. We will miss Cindy. She is going to take care of her mothers and her own life now and Coleman and I will homeschool together next year. In 8th grade, he will attend a charter school that will help him in his desires to be a writer. But . . .

All Coleman Ever Needed to Know,
He Learned at Cindy’s House:

1. I can learn something new everyday.

2. Only I can make myself learn.

3. Opera is magnificent.

4. Everyday must start with a hug.

5. I can express myself through art, drawing, writing and reading.

6. Never run out of peanuts. Feeding the birds brings me closer to the world around me and my Heavenly Father who created them.

7. I don’t have to know everything, I just need to know how to find what I want to know.

8.I flourish when I don’t feel pressure.

9. One day, some of my math will make sense to me.

10. I am worth everything because God asked Cindy Madsen to help me. He knows me and loves me and so does she.

Coleman picking up the paper at Cindy's like he did every morning.