Life Lessons From A Triangle

Children have such huge potential for learning, and when they are taught from the earliest of ages to accept and appreciate each other’s differences – even to look beyond those differences to see what they have in common – it is one of life’s greatest lessons.
I get so touched by seeing and even being a part of those opportunities. It is a beautiful sight to see young children who look and do things differently, laugh, play, learn, and participate together. When this happens, all of them grow as a result.

This is why, as soon as my dear friend Blythe Pietila showed me the picture book, Timmy Triangle in Square Park written by Blythe’s friend, Ruth Wacker, I loved it right away…and wanted a copy to read to kids.

With simple words, cheerful illustrations and an easy-to-follow story line, the book teaches this lesson so that young minds are engaged and can understand. It focuses on Timmy Triangle, who tapes another triangle to himself just so that he looks like all the squares and can play with them in their park. They were having so much fun together…until, Timmy’s second triangle fell off during jump roping and was told he could no longer play there. That is when Sammy Square picked up the fallen triangle and announced his discovery, “Look, everybody…I’m made of two triangles!” And they realized they were really all alike. From that day forward, the squares welcomed the triangles in the park.

Timmy Triangle in Square Park is now among my favorite picture books for early readers (published by Reading Reading Books).
I had to talk with Ruth to learn more about the woman behind the story; and when I did, I came to see how this was such a natural project for her. Her friends know her as probably one of the nicest people they know because she loves to smile and make others smile. Someone told her recently, “When I walk away from you, I always feel better.” I can absolutely see that. I seemed to be smiling more when I hung up the phone from our conversation.

Ruth told me that may come from her roots (and the many self help book she regularly reads), growing up in a farming town of what she guesses may include some 300 people. She has three sisters and a brother, and parents who were farmers. From her family she learned about motivation, faith, hard work, love, and lend a hand to neighbors.

And she no doubt instilled those same values into her two adult sons, her biggest inspiration. “They are such selfless people, always willing to help other people. They’ve inspired me with their lack of worry. They have this thing about them that no matter what happens, everything will be ok and it will be good,” she told me.

A first grade teacher many years ago, her children’s writing (she has written several other stories for Amazon Rapids, an app for 8-12 year olds by Amazon Education) is a mix of her passion for writing, teaching, and encouraging friendship and discovery in young people.

Ruth’s voice cracked as she began telling me of Ryan, the inspiration behind Timmy the Triangle in Square Park.

The son of one of Ruth’s friends who is now in his 20’s, Ryan loves golf and would be the first person to pick up something you dropped as an act of kindness. He is also very big into following the rules and is often in a good mood. When his older brother was on the St. Xavier High School football team, Ryan was the team helper. The players looked at him as one of their own.

Yet there were also many kids who kept there distance from Ryan. His having down syndrome meant he looked and did things different from his peers as a child and that made some of them uncomfortable. They didn’t know how to be or act around him. “They were afraid of hanging out with him because they didn’t know what he was capable of, and he has a lot to offer,” Ruth told me.

“You have so much to learn from people who you may be afraid to get to know but if you just say, ‘it’s ok to get to know them’, you will be a better person and they will be better people. It goes for everyone. People should be judged by their character instead of what they look like. I am a big believer in that, and also I believe that kids should grow up to be curious about things. It is how they learn,” she said.

Below are a few more questions I asked of Ruth.

Lisa: What makes you smile?
Ruth: A lot makes me smile. The first thing I think about when I wake up is what I am thankful for. You can always make a list. Mine includes family, friends, my health, sunshine, a job, a house, food, music, books, my dog. The list could go on and on.

Lisa: What advice would you give a younger version of yourself about leading your best life?
Ruth: I used to always be in a rush about everything. I would see how much I could accomplish in an hour. My best advice would be to slow down. Now I love meditation because it makes you aware of so much more instead of having the blinders on with only one path. Open those blinders up. You never know what you may miss laying on the side of the road. Be open to changing your path. I also believe in signs. You’ve got to be open to the fact that something someone says may trigger a thought that means, ‘wait a minute, I’ve been going down the wrong way.’