I felt so badly for him when he went to the local general store with a list of items. Everybody was in such a hurry that they would always overlook him. Nobody ever wanted to give him the time to express himself. She had her say, but knew Jess was right when he said, “But what, Miss Althea, are you going to feed the cow, if I don’t harvest the corn stalks?”
For instance, she got angry with him for clearing the corn stalks out on the corn fields when she thought he should be hunting game or gathering firewood. How touching it was that Jess was so excited about working the farm that he showed up at Althea’s place before dawn! Althea had to re-think her preconceived notions about Jess because, as time passed, she noticed that, given some time to think, he had valuable ideas.
While the money he offered was not near enough to see her through the winter, she struck a bargain with him: if he helped her prepare for winter, she would give him the dogs. Jess wanted the dogs and made her an offer. She also wanted to sell her husband’s hunting dogs. Althea needed help on the farm after her husband’s death. The heroine of Simple Jess is widow Althea Winslow, whose mother-in-law insisted she re-marry. His brother-in-law knew that there was more to Jess than what the outside world saw and tried to help Jess as much as he could. His father understood him, taught him what he could in order to make a living, and taught him to be a man. I felt for this man, written off by the members of his home town, believed to be of no earthly good to society. Now I’ll get down from my soap box and tell you why I fell in love with Jess and his story. It has been an eye opening experience for me. My best friend teaches emotionally disturbed children and we have shared many stories of her students, their problems, their sorrows and joys. Those that insist special needs children be institutionalized miss a very great gift and that is unfortunate.
I always call them “old souls” because they taught us a lot about wisdom. My husband and I have watched these “old souls” grow into adulthood and it has been a wonderful experience. My best friend’s parents have adopted two Down’s Syndrome children who are the light of their lives. That’s how it was with Jess Best everybody in town had written him off as simple. If we simply ignore them, they will go away. Too much of the world figures those with special needs and challenges are of no earthly good to humanity.
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