Sunday, May 4, 2014

Trisomy Siblings Ain't Heavy



Life is busy, crazy, racing toward the end of the school year.  Sometimes I think it's a good thing I don't have a time turner from Harry Potter.  There's no way I wouldn't catch myself coming or going, or even both!

But just because I don't have time to write doesn't mean the thoughts have decided to quiet down and play nice.  It just means I haven't put them on paper (computer?) yet.

So here's a an offering, plus a funny story that came to me third-hand, but I think illustrates how trisomy siblings feel, at least most of the time.

A young man was asked if he resented how much time his sister required, and how his parents' focus was on her.  He went on and on about how they were never at his activities, they were always paying attention to her, he never got one-on-one time and so on.  Parents listening were just devastated.  I mean, we all know our medically fragile kids need a lot of attention, but it also hurts when we feel we're not parenting our other kids enough.

Someone asked a follow-up clarifying question:  "So it's really hard having a handicapped sister?"

"Oh, her??  No, she's fine!  I'm talking about HER!" as he points to his other, neurotypical sister!  Yeah, typical sibling issues, ones you find in any family with more than one child.  

The slideshow is one that I've wanted to do for a long time.  Shortly before Aaron's birth, the boy's chorus at the middle school sang, "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother."  I sat there with tears streaming down my face.  The next week, the director and boys kindly recorded it for me.  Several weeks ago, I finally got it put together.  What a blessing these kids are, ALL of them.  Not just the ones with 47 chromosomes, but also their siblings with 46.

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet. ~Vietnamese Proverb

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