Little Prince Lou

Introducing a lovely weblog from Belgium, Lou's Diary, created in French and now being translated into English. It's written by Luc Boland and tells the story of his son Lou, who has Septo Optic Dysplasia. Lou loves sounds, and used to stand in their hallway for long periods, making the door to the living room squeak. When his mum oiled the hinges and ended the squeak, he 'was infinitely sad and [...] kept saying : "The door, it's crying because it doesn't squeak anymore!". And that lasted for two or three days!'

I don't have kids and probably only think I can imagine what it's like to be a parent. But it doesn't take much imagination to see that Lou's parents and his sisters have had to join The Remarkables, those seemingly-ordinary people in our midst who somehow rise to the challenges of their lives and excel, whether they want to or not. And little Prince Lou, the Remarkable who can imitate sounds so well you can distinguish between his "lawnmower" and "edge trimmer", is his own man. As his dad says:

...if there is one message I'm trying to convey in my stories about Lou, it is definitely the message that he taught me by his presence : we grow rich from other people's differences. [...] if there is one common denominator to all of humanity's evils (exception made for accidents and natural disasters), it is surely the fear of others, of that difference which reflects our own doubts on us.

Bravo.