I get a daily Chicken Soup for the Soul message via e-mail; this is yesterday's:

Please Dress Me in Red
By Cindy Dee Holms

In my dual profession as an educator and health care
provider, I have worked with numerous children infected
with the virus that causes AIDS. The relationships that I
have had with these special kids have been gifts in my
life. They have taught me so many things, but I have
especially learned that great courage can be found in the
smallest of packages. Let me tell you about Tyler.

Tyler was born infected with HIV; his mother was also
infected. From the very beginning of his life, he was
dependent on medications to enable him to survive. When he
was five, he had a tube surgically inserted in a vein in
his chest. This tube was connected to a pump, which he
carried in a small backpack on his back. Medications were
hooked up to this pump and were continuously supplied
through this tube to his bloodstream. At times, he also
needed supplemental oxygen to support his breathing.

Tyler wasn't willing to give up one single moment of
his childhood to this deadly disease. It was not unusual
to find him playing and racing around his backyard, wearing
his medicine-laden backpack and dragging his tank of oxygen
behind him in his little wagon. All of us who knew Tyler
marveled at his pure joy in being alive and the energy it
gave him. Tyler's mom often teased him by telling him that
he moved so fast she needed to dress him in red. That way,
when she peered out the window to check on him playing in
the yard, she could quickly spot him.

This dreaded disease eventually wore down even the
likes of a little dynamo like Tyler. He grew quite ill
and, unfortunately, so did his HIV-infected mother. When
it became apparent that he wasn't going to survive, Tyler's
mom talked to him about death. She comforted him by
telling Tyler that she was dying too, and that she would be
with him soon in heaven.

A few days before his death, Tyler beckoned me over to
his hospital bed and whispered, "I might die soon. I'm not
scared. When I die, please dress me in red. Mom promised
she's coming to heaven, too. I'll be playing when she gets
there, and I want to make sure she can find me."