Memories & Nostalgia

Today I was listening to Sarah Palin speak in Iowa, and again she mentioned her desire to bring awareness to the unique challenges that those who have “special needs” family members, or family members with “disabilities”, face on a day to day basis.

This touches a very special place in my heart because I have a brother who is in his 40’s who is a special needs adult.  The memories from his past life are a mixed bag that contains many different emotions. Maybe, over time, I’ll share some of those things with you, and you can share your situations if you’ve “been there” in comments here, if you like.

For now, may I just say that it is wonderful to see that someone is bringing this issue to the forefront on a national level!   After just finishing spending several years helping my family and brother by researching how to best meet my brother’s future needs, I have learned and seen a lot, and there is a lot of need in this area.

My brother, John, is in his 40’s, he has a delightful disposition, and a wonderful smile, because my Mom, who will be 80 in a couple of weeks, has been devoted to him and his care.  John cannot talk, he can walk, but not easily, he can’t hear in one ear, and can only hear a bit in the other.  All of this from a bout with Spinal Meningitis when he was a baby, while we were on vacation as a family at my Grandparents.

After the doctors realized the damage that had been done to my 6 month old baby brother from this illness that kept him in the hospital for most of the summer, and often with a 50/50 chance of living, they told my mother that it would be best if she just put him in an institution, that he would never amount to anything.  That was not to be, and because of it, my brother was an active member of our family for his whole life.  He is capable of caring for many of his own personal needs, getting a bowl of cereal, vacuuming, dressing himself, so many little helpful things that would never have happened had he been raised in an institution.  There is a lot deep inside my brother that you see in his eyes that may never come out until we can talk to one another in heaven when all things are made new…what a day that will be!

Recently, after a lot of work and even more prayer, we were able to move my brother into a Christian group home, the one that we hoped and prayed he would live in, and he is happy there. Best of all, he doesn’t live far from all of us.

Was it always an easy road? Far from it, but it is through the challenges in life that we learn the most, isn’t it?