exerpt from expecting adam

KLEENEX WARNING -- get a box! This is parts of one page from the book Expecting Adam (the book I'm reading about a child with Down syndrome -- if anyone's offended by my copying this section, I'll gladly edit the page with all the proper citations :-):

When Adam was three years old, I began to lose hope that he would ever communicate verbally . . . One day . . . I took my children to the grocery store and offered them all bribes to keep quiet -- I was too tired and discouraged to enforce discipline any other way. I told them they could each pick out a treat from the candy stands next to the checkout counter. When we got there, Katie chose a roll of Life Savers and Lizzie a chocolate bar. Adam, who seemed to understand everything I had said even though he couldn't speak in return, went over to a basket of red rosebuds and pulled one out.
"This is what you want?" I asked incredulously.
He nodded.
"No, honey, this isn't candy," I said, putting it back and turning him toward the rows of sweets. "Don't you want candy?"
Adam shook his small head, walked back to the bucket, picked out the rose, and put it on the counter. I was baffled, but I paid for it. Adam took it gravely as the girls unwrapped their candy. He held the flower with both hands all the way home. When we got there, I was immediately engrossed in putting away the groceries and forgot all about his strange request.
The next morning I awoke to find sunlight streaming through my bedroom window . . . As I yawned and stretched, I heard Adam's small feet padding down the hallway toward my bedroom. He appeared at the door with the rose, which he had put in a small crystal bud vase. I looked at him in surprise. I didn't realize that he knew what vases were for, let alone how to get one down from the cupboard, fill it with water, and put a flower in it.
Adam walked over to the bed and handed the rose to me. As he held it out, he said, in a clear, calm voice, "Here."

Now if you're not at LEAST getting tears in your eyes, you might want to check if you have a human heart beating in your chest.