Mom's Letter to a Celebrity About Her Son: "His Very Self Brightened Our Day"
Sitting at the airport with her four children just a day after learning her youngest son has autism, Adrian Wood of Tales of an Educated Debutante had an unexpected, perspective-altering experience with a celebrity mom's son. However, she didn't realize Egypt's famous ties to mom, Alicia Keys, and dad, Swizz Beatz, until after discovering what a polite, friendly, and caring young boy he is.
To say thank you to Alicia for raising such a wonderful boy, Wood took to her Facebook page to write a heartfelt letter to the singer-songwriter, from one mom to another. "I quite like it when someone reaches out to share a compliment regarding my children and so, I'm extending the same courtesy to you," she starts. "We mothers, no matter our background, try to instill kindness in our children. Like me, do you wonder if the endless instruction is sticking? Yours is sticking."
The mom then jumps into a recount of her stressful experience at the airport following Amos's diagnoses, and how Egypt changed everything about her day.
I was waiting on a delayed flight and trying to keep my four rambunctious children entertained in the confined space. It was impossible to miss the boy playing with an amazing fun mother that secretly made me annoyed. I felt anything but fun in that moment, leaking quiet tears over the word autism, a diagnosis my 3-year-old son received yesterday. Anyways, I was quite relieved when the overly fun mom divulged her role as nanny.
Your son, Egypt, shared strawberries and race cars. Perplexed, he watched Amos . . . Amos has autism, I said aloud, for the very first time. Not unlike my big three, he shrugged his small shoulders, moved on quickly and asked my middle son to play war. My big two gathered to watch, all crouched on the airport floor and I heard my daughter ask your son's age. "I'm 6," he said and she gloated quite happily, "Russell, how does it feel to get beat by somebody in kindergarten?!" I needed that chuckle and my children needed a diversion from a grieving mother, one they don't know so well and truthfully, nor do I.
Once their flight started boarding, Wood recalls her children appearing reluctant at having to leave their new friend, so they all took a photo together, and one of Wood's boys handed Egypt a card with her email on it. Because he didn't have his own business card, he shared a photo of his family on an iPad, which is when Wood admits "the plot thickened in a way [she] could not have imagined." She then shared with her kids that "their new friend with the big smile and kind heart was quite famous."
Wood finishes her story with kind words aimed at the famous mom and her family: "I don't know you, Alicia Keys, but I know the kind of mom you are and I see the kind of children you're raising and though we live polar opposite lives, you'd be someone I would be honored to call a friend. And your son, Egypt? Please tell him thank you from the Wood family. His very self brightened our day."