Introduction

I have wanted to share my brother's story for a long time. He is a trailblazer, or perhaps more accurately, my parents were trailblazers in the movement to keep special needs kids at home with their families after birth. John was born in 1960, a time when almost no middle class parents kept kids like him at home. Somehow, my mother knew that his potential could only be maximized by his living at home with his parents and three sisters. And so he did. I know it was really hard for many people, but it was never hard for me.
He was born about a month early and I've been told it was a very difficult birth for my mother. There were no sonograms in 1960, so no one knew in advance that he had a very large head, even for an achondroplasiac dwarf. Despite the best efforts of the doctors, his brain was damaged during birth, leaving him mentally retarded. Friends and family members recommended that John be institutionalized for the 'good' of my sisters and me, but my mother was resolute and home he stayed.
I cannot imagine what my life would have been like had John not been in it. I created this blog to share with others the joy and pain I have experienced as the sibling of a special needs person and to let others know of the tremendous success my hero has achieved.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

No Sorrow

My job has been very challenging of late. Not so much the work -- more the people. It is difficult to accept that some of them are not the decent people I thought they were.

So, I come home and call my brother, John. We don't talk about work, at least not mine. We talk about real stuff -- like what he had for dinner and which 1960s-era TV show he's going to watch on DVD tonight. He always asks about each member of my family--even the pets--and he genuinely cares about what we had for dinner tonight, yeah--even the dog. We talk about how much he likes to work and whether he packed more boxes today than yesterday and what he brought for lunch. We always cover the important matters--his success at work, food, TV, weather and his favorite topic, farting. Real stuff about which we have real laughs. There is no room for tears when you speak with John. He laughs too much; enjoys life too much. He keeps me on course and happy. My hero. My brother, John.
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2010 at 7:52 PM

    Love your blog. John is at the top of my hero list too.

    ReplyDelete

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