True Blessings In My Life

January 16, 2002 a beautiful miracle occurred. Not long after midnight, a baby was born. Often we lose sight of what a miracle this is. After all, babies are born every day right? True, they are. But does that make it any less a miracle?

Psalm 71:6b - you brought me forth from my mother's womb.
I will ever praise you.

Psalms 139:13 - For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

How can we call it not a miracle? God forms each child with His own hands. With His own 'set of knitting needles'. He is the one that brings each baby forth from the womb. I for one, see that as one of the most beautiful miracles ever.

But that's not the end of the miracle that happened 7 years ago. This child wasn't "normal". Though I'm not entirely sure I know what the word normal means. But if there is a 'normal', his little boy wasn't it. You see, this child, formed by God, had Downs Syndrome.As and 8 your old, I really didn't understand what this meant. My parents explained that John would need more help in learning what most would call, "simple things". But more than the help, he would need an immense amount of love. This love mostly coming in the form of patience.

I honestly don't remember when he was brought home. But being only 8, it seemed like an eternity. It was so hard to wait. I have always adored babies so I just wanted to sit and cuddle my new baby brother. But I couldn't. He was many miles away at Riley hospital in Indianapolis. He was rushed there almost immediately after his birth. The facilities here were inadequate to check for common problems with kids with downs such as heart problems. So, my parents were in Indy, and my grandma came from Illinois to stay with us. She was one brave grandma. To come from her quiet peaceful home and suddenly be taking care of 6 kids between the ages of almost 2 and 11.Yowza! I love you grandma. And you've definitely got guts.

When they did FINALLY come home, John had undergone some surgeries. And he was on a heart monitor. So we had to keep theses wires, which were attached to this black box thingy, stuck to him at all times. How annoying that thing became. If he moved the tiniest bit, the 'sticky' (or not so sticky)things that help the wires onto him would disconnect. And the thing would beep at us. It musta false alarmed 50 times a day. (8 year old's perspective)

As John began to grow, he underwent the learning of the same task as any child. But for him they were different. The normal things like rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking, and talking were anything but normal for him. It felt like there was always a therapist of some kind here. When speech or physical. During these therapy sessions he was not the only one learning. We were all learning how to teach him. How to work with him in a way that would be most beneficial. And with each accomplishment, we praised him greatly. Though for most, walking comes somewhat naturally, for him, it took a lot of time. Each step he would take was a painful agony to behold(mostly on the ears because he would scream his head of if you made him walk)

Ok, so after all that I've told you, I'm sure you thinking, 'why on earth did she call him a miracle in the beginning of this post'. Well, to list all the reasons would be impossible. So I will settle for simply sharing some of the biggest ways John has been a blessing to my life.

If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be bilingual. See, the thing about John is, he still doesn't speak terribly clearly. Basically nobody outside our family can understand him. He speaks a language we call Johnish. So, I consider myself bilingual because I understand both English and Johnish. Well, I'm not sure what qualifies bilingual. I cannot speak Johnish. I haven't quite figured out the pronunciations well enough to do them myself. But, I could easily get hired as a full time translator. ;)

John took away a fear of the unknown that lurks within us all. There are very few people that, on seeing someone with either a mental or physical handicap, act and think normal. People just don't know how to respond. So they tend to shy away from interaction with anyone that doesn't fit their notion of normal. This really is a fear, though most would not recognize it as such. And having a brother who by most would be deemed 'retarded', I have lost this fear of the unknown, because it is now known.

He is a source of laughter in my life. You don't know how funny this little kid can be. He is such a comedian.

Unless you really know someone with Downs, you really have no clue what I'm talking about, but no one on earth is as loving as them. John is always ready to give out hugs. If I'm having a bad day, John often cheers me up. And along with being loving, he's totally lovable. You can't not love him.

He keeps me from growing old too fast. He always wants me to read children's books to him. Or do puzzles with him. Or just whatever. Just play.

Who else am I going to find to dance with me. =P Nobody else calls to me as I'm walking through the room "Melody, daaancccee" It sounds silly, but we blare some music, and dance around the kitchen. The first few times were kinda weird because I was self conscious of how silly I looked. But I decided that, it doesn't matter. Nobody else is seeing me anyway. And dancing around to crazy music, spinning him in circles until I think I'll die of dizziness, those are the kinds of memories that will stick with both of us. And I don't want to leave home leaving him with memories of how big sister Melody wouldn't dance, she wouldn't be crazy just even a moment because she cared more about what others might think than she did about me. I what him to know that I love him enough to be crazy with him.

But you know what the biggest blessing of all is? Just having him here. With all his quirks, with all the difficulties, I love him to death. I don't care if he never learns to read. Or even if he always gets his colors right, he is my little brother and I love him more than words can express.

I LOVE YA BUDDY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!