today was a workout for a tender heart

I installed a Make A Wish computer today, and the mom is the strongest woman ever, and the boy was precious. And after a good 5 hours of being there and it being near his bedtime, he grabbed onto my arm and pinched me with a death grip...and when I said, "Oh, you're pinching me :\" and maybe "Oh, don't do that," he squeezed harder and pinched me like I have never been pinched before in my entire life and then grabbed my hair as I was kind of wincing aloud, reluctantly/timidly (out of respect for the delicacy of the matter), "He's PNCHNG me" in hopes of his mom coming back and rescuing me. It hurt and stung. And the pain, which was so bad that my shirt touching me arm was like AAAAH! :(, lingered for an hour or so. I got into my car and called my mama and cried and cried. And, it wasn't about the physical pain. It hurt my feelings a little (if i am honest) even though it shouldn't. He is non-verbal and has behavior challenges but is delightful and had been interacting with me kindly up until then. For some reason it just opened up the floodgates. I feel for the mom. And I feel for the boy. And these installs are always a blessing...and a little rough on the heart...and for some reason the pinch just opened up my tender spot. The mom told me that if she had known he would not be able to make sounds after his tracheotomy when he was a baby, she would have recorded him crying so she could have it to hear. She remembers it. And, that just breaks me. He weighed 1 pound when he was born, at 25 weeks...and that was 17 years ago. He was meant to live.