His T-shirts tell a story.

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We have a local fellow here who has a form of Tourette's syndrome. It's bad...and he knows it. The locals claim that it was so bad when he was younger, that he refused to go to school, or interact with people. He lived with his parents, but after their passing, he was on his own. His mind works fine as far as doing daily functions. He appears to have a kind heart, and tries to help who he can, when he can. He helps a lot at a large local church that we have attended. John wears T-shirts, every day. He has quite a wardrobe of them. Every single one of them says, in very large letters, something like this--''I'm John, I'm LOUD, and I yell a lot!'' He has a few that have more writing on the back, in smaller letters, that suggest the reader should learn about Tourette's syndrome. He has a rather rare form of it. The form of Tourette's John has is very hard to get used to--he yells in uncontrollable spurts; he cannot help it or control it. He might be having a conversation with you and all of a sudden, the loudest noise you have ever heard a man make will come out of his mouth. I can definitely understand why he wears his shirts. He says he wants to warn people that he cannot help it, he doesn't want to stay home by himself, he wants to be out and about. He volunteers at the Salvation Army and several food banks. He does a lot of work for others. His Tourette's is very rare. He doesn't have body ''tics'' or involuntary movements, just the speech/loudness that's uncontrollable. Yes, he takes some medications for it that he says does help, he has less loud outbursts, but still...if you have never heard him have one and suddenly you do, it is startling. Yet another reason for us to try not to judge a book by its cover...there could be a stellar, loving and giving human behind the picture you see. He is one of the best humans ever. I am adding a link to the description of Tourette's if you are not familiar with it. Usually, it strikes people in the form of jerky movements, facial tics, etc. With John, it took a different path. I like to think that he is on the path he is supposed to be on, making the best of his situation.