I WENT VISITING TEACHING AT MRS. BIRD'S HOUSE

We went visiting teaching to Mrs. Bird's house today. My visiting teacher partner likes to talk. Mrs. Bird likes to talk. We were there two hours. I am going to have to be the voice of reason.

But, I did hear a good story.

When Mrs. Bird's youngest child was an infant Mrs. Bird and her husband took in a pregnant teenager. (They have spent a lifetime taking in kids who need help.) There was no bedroom where this pregnant teen could stay but in the nursery, so the baby had to move out. Where to sleep the baby?

Mrs. Bird got a piece of foam from the upholsterer--a five inch piece of foam, cut the exact size of the shower. She covered it with fabric and the baby slept there.

In the morning the shower-mattress came out and everyone showered. Then they wiped the shower dry and the mattress went back in in time for the baby's nap. There were no showers allowed at night.

The pregnant teen was going to give up the baby but in the last month she changed her mind. She couldn't do it--she loved him with an intensity that only a mother can understand.

After the baby was born she went home to California to her parents--who had spent all her pregnancy in Europe on assignment. She met a nice man--who adored her baby boy--and she eventually married him. The marriage has been very successful. And her baby? He is now grown up and is a wonderful doctor who is much loved by his patients. And guess what? He and his mother are the best of friends.

And Mrs. Bird's baby? She grew up to be one of the kindest people I know--and the cleanest.