Alberto, an electrical engineer, Corning Museum of Glass instructor and PMAC flameworking demonstrator for more than a decade, shared his story about why Alexandria and SDG community needs the Priest’s mill Arts Centre to survive and thrive. In his own words, and with his permission, this is Alberto’s story.
This is the story of an autistic child. This child came one day to the Priest's Mill, accompanied by his mom and dad and‘normal’ siblings. When I fired up the torch, his eyes lit up, and… he stopped fidgeting. I started flameworking a floral implosion. He stared. Intently. Deeply. You could see the gears spinning in his head behind those eyes. This child sat through the entire demo, silently immobile, staring. His parents stood by in total disbelief; mom was in shock, she had tears in her eyes. At the end they both came to see me; dad told me that never ever EVER did they see their child so rapt. Mom kept saying thank you… “it’s a miracle, we didn’t know someone could get through to him, he is so locked up in his world…” I have never felt a greater sense of pride in my life. The piercing eyes of this child will remain forever burned in mymemory and will inspire me to speak my language of glass to whomever is willing to listen. I thank you God for your gift of this precious moment, to have connected with another human being’s soul through my passion for glass. |