Heartwarming Tearjerker alert.

“There is something a lot greater than energy. There’s something a lot greater than entropy. What’s the greatest thing?”

“Love.”

~ Jeffrey Wright, Physics teacher in Louisville Middle High School, Kentucky.

 

“Wright’s Law: A Unique Teacher Imparts Real Life Lessons,” via The NY Times.

“Laws of Physics Can’t Trump the Bonds of Love,” via the Times’ Well column.

From the Times story:

Mr. Wright said he decided to share his son’s story when his physics lessons led students to start asking him “the big questions.” “When you start talking about physics, you start to wonder, ‘What is the purpose of it all?’ ” he said in an interview. “Kids started coming to me and asking me those ultimate questions. I wanted them to look at their life in a little different way — as opposed to just through the laws of physics — and give themselves more purpose in life.” Mr. Wright starts his lecture by talking about the hopes and dreams he had for Adam and his daughter, Abbie, now 15. He recalls the day Adam was born, and the sadness he felt when he learned of his condition.

“All those dreams about ever watching my son knock a home run over the fence went away,” he tells the class. “The whole thing about where the universe came from? I didn’t care. … I started asking myself, what was the point of it?” All that changed one day when Mr. Wright saw Abbie, about 4 at the time, playing with dolls on the floor next to Adam. At that moment he realized that his son could see and play — that the little boy had an inner life. He and his wife, Nancy, began teaching Adam simple sign language. One day, his son signed “I love you.”

“Jeffrey Wright uses wacky experiments to teach children about the universe, but it is his own personal story that teaches them the true meaning of life.”

Thanks to the NY Times for quality, original, heartwarming, tearjerking story-telling.

A true teacher whose most inspiring lesson is a personal one. “I was pissed at God…” … “Daddy I love you.”