Teen with Down syndrome proudly visits his mom's grave after fulfilling her last wish: 'I did it...'
Dressed in a pair of brown khaki pants, a crisp white shirt, and a red necktie, Paul Marshall Jr. walked to the gravestone to say something to his deceased mom. Holding a bouquet wrapped in yellow paper, Marshall went on to utter a tailspin of heart-wrenching words, stopping only to look at the camera that his father held. While standing in the grassy lawn of Haughton High School’s football field, the teenager’s voice was choked with emotion. Although every year, dozens of students graduate from their schools, Marshall’s case was a bit more inspiring than the rest of the others. Ever since his birth, Marshall has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome and a variety of other defects, according to KSLA News.
Marshall lost her mother, Latonya Marshall, to cancer when he was just nine years old. At the moment of dying, Latonya had expressed her last wish by saying, “I just want to see Paul Jr. graduate.” So, when the boy grew up into a 22-year-old adult who had just completed his graduation, the first thing he told his father was this, “I want to go to my mother’s grave and take her flowers.” “Mommy, I’ve got something to say. I did it. I graduated today. I know you’d be proud of me and happy. I love you so much,” the boy said while standing in front of his mom’s gravestone.
The message “He Maketh No Mistake” is written on the gravestone, engraved in bold letters, as seen in the footage. The boy pecked a kiss on his palm and placed that palm on the granite gravestone to embrace his mom’s soul. It wasn’t just his mom’s last wish and his graduation celebration that prompted Marshall to visit her grave and pay a tribute. It was also a long history of encountering one sickness after the other, in two decades of his life. From a heart valve replacement to kidney issues, lifelong intellectual disabilities, developmental delays, gastrointestinal disorders, learning disabilities, and several surgeries, Marshall had gone through a lot.
Yet, when he was on his feet, a grown man standing in front of his mom, he looked happy and humbled as always, something which his father said is his natural state. “Paul Jr. could be hospitalized for 5 days, and on the 6th day, he’s out and laughing,” Marshall’s dad told the news outlet. “If you’re having a bad day, or going through something, Paul Jr. is the person you want to be around and talk to, that day,” Paul Sr. added. The dad-son duo also shared the details of the moment when Marshall received his graduation certificate. When the time came for him to walk to the stage, he didn’t just walk. He danced. “I’m just happy when they call my name,” the cheerful boy described.
Marshall also revealed that after school studies, he was planning to attend Bossier Parish Community College. His heart-rending story made its way to a wide range of media channels as well as on social media. People were both touched and amused by his cheerfulness and love. “In a world infested with fear-mongering and depressing media, these kinds of videos give me hope for humanity. Good people are all around us,” a Reddit user commented on his story. A woman named Antoinette Mascari said on Facebook, “Love knows no boundaries. He still loves his mum. Gorgeous son.” Indeed, love knows no boundaries. Wherever Marshall’s mom is right now, she is watching over him and showering love.