Blimi Scharf (12 yrs. old)
I held my new baby brother closely and kissed him as I remembered the first few weeks of his life:
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“What?” I asked in confusion.
“Mommy had a baby boy!” my sister exclaimed excitedly, rushing into the room.
“How do you know?” I was starting to wake up.
“A nurse left a message on the answering machine.”
By now I was fully awake. My mother just gave birth to a boy!
It was Friday night, and I was halfway asleep, when my sister came to tell me the news. We went to tell the rest of our siblings and then went back to sleep. The next morning, we were all overjoyed that our mother had a baby, and we had a new brother to love!
It was a few days later, after my mother came home from the hospital, that we figured out that the baby had a thyroid problem. Two weeks later on Sunday morning we named him Shloimy.
For the next few days, there was very strange stuff going on, extra doctor appointments, lots of whispering.
My family was eating by the supper table discussing our day, when my mother spoke up; “We all know that we are so lucky to have a beautiful baby boy, Shloimy”. We all nodded, and my mother continued. “We also know that whatever Hashem does is good. He doesn’t make mistakes.” We nodded again and I felt chills in my stomach. “Our dear, delicious Shloimy has Down syndrome.”
The words hit me, and I was immediately paralyzed from shock. Everyone was quiet besides for my two-year-old sister Chany, jumping and singing. Why was she the only one happy? She doesn’t realize what’s going on?! If only I can be two years old and not understand what Down syndrome is. He is changing my life! I shook my head trying to stay focused. My eyes started to well up with tears.
“You don’t have to worry,” my mother said gently, trying to comfort everyone. “He was given directly to us! We are lucky to have Shloimy in our family. He’s here to protect our family and look after us all. He’s our guardian angel.”
By now I was crying, tears falling down my cheeks. Why did it have to be our family? Why couldn’t it be any other family?
Every family has struggles, some voice inside me said. I looked up, wiped away my tears and smiled because I knew Hashem will help me and my family.
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I put my brother down and whispered in his ear, “I will always love you” and I left him sleeping peacefully in his bed.