JCNT - May 2025 Release - Full Release - Flipbook - Page 41
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Shadow: Oh, yeah. Because you never eat.
[Shadow has a knack for quick comebacks.]
Mom: Oh, that's why you offer me? [Mom and Dad laughing]
Shadow: And well, because I have to be nice.
Dad: No, he does. You could tell that he's doing it out ofMom: Out of heart.
Dad: Out of heart.
[Shadow’s parents seemed to settle on this description easily, refusing to declare
Shadow’s generosity as anything but pure-hearted. But Shadow couldn’t help but
throw out at least one more contradiction.]
Shadow: I sometimes do it for the iPad...
Dad: Oh so he's telling us everything now [chucking] so I guess he's disclosing.
Mom: Which I don't really believe that.
Dad: No.
Shadow: [Speaking a little softer] Yeah, I'm trying actually.
[As much as Shadow loved the debate, here he again had to concede.]
Mom: You're always being so sweet.
Dad: Yeah, he's very sweet.
This is it, I thought. I had been told all the mayhem and struggle surrounding this
boy, but now I was hearing about another side of him. We had a boy who cares
deeply about his toys yet shares them with his cousins. A boy who loves food, yet
offers the first bite to his mom. And he does it all out of his heart.
The Boy Who Acted Out of Heart
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, May2025 Release, p. 29-62.
www.journalnft.com
