There are so many reasons and ways that I am proud of my kids. Today I am definitely loving the spirit and heart of my middle kiddo. Today, Sydney is my guest blogger. Every year she chooses to create a blog entry to share how she feels about being a sister to Bradley, how much she loves him and how life is for her having a brother with an extra chromosome. Every year, I wait for this entry and she never disappoints me in how well she writes, how much she sees, and the incredible amount of love that comes across in her work. So please enjoy her blog post, I know I really did.
Our Special Vanilla Oreo
I am a middle child of three. Madison is my older sister, and she is in her Freshman year of high school. I am Sydney; number two, middle kid, cream of the Oreo; that’s all me. Not only am I the middle kid, I am also in the middle grade (7th) of middle school; go figure. Now, number three, Bradley, was the surprise that finished the Oreo cookie. He was also born with something very special. It’s almost like instead of finishing our chocolate cookie, he came in vanilla. Which, of course, was different; but it was a good different.
Before Bradley was born, it was just mom, dad, Madison and me. A happy family of four, that we were. When we found out mom was due with our future sister or brother, son or daughter, of course we were ecstatic; even the shock wore off by that point. At age five even I anticipated the arrival of the stork as much as my parents did. When the due day came near, mom was rushed to the hospital, and the waiting game began. I remember staying with my aunt, spending school days boasting about my future sibling and the weekend visiting mom in the hospital. And finally, he entered our world, on January 9th, 2010. Aunt Sonya told us his name was Bradley.
Soon after the news came, my sister and I were pacing anxiously in front of mom’s door, occasionally raising to our tip-toes and trying to see through the small window. Looking back now, when the doctor finally admitted us into the room, I knew something was wrong immediately. Both mom and dad’s eyes were red, and based on their expressions the tears they had shed weren’t just those of joy.
I ignored this, however, and my eyes went straight to the little blue blanket wrapped around my new baby brother. As I write this, I remember the day mom and dad first showed Madison and I that blanket. We were in a food court with Aunt Sonya and Uncle Chris, and out of the blue dad pulled the blanket (see what I did there?) from a NEX plastic bag, displaying the child’s gender to us all. Madison was hysterical, clearly very excited.
Meanwhile I was throwing my own temper tantrum and crying my eyes out. I wanted a baby sister, and that blanket was not pink. Hilariously enough, once I calmed down and let mom convince me that another sister would have drove my crazy, I started brainstorming which stores would have the best toys and clothes for my little brother.
Anyways, I went straight to my new baby brother and let my mom help me hold him properly. I remember feeling very proud. I have a baby brother, and now I will be older than him and I can boss him around when he gets older, just like how Madison does to me, and we can all make evil plots against mom and dad, I thought. Even then, I was turning into the devil in me. Just kidding. It turned out, however, that bossing around and plotting evil things was “not nice and I should be nice.” Bummer.
Later on I learned what had mixed my parents tears of joy with sorrow. They told me that Bradley had Down syndrome. Because my youth put a limit to my attention span as well as my capacity for comprehension, the explanation of Down syndrome provided for me was just enough for me to understand that he was different. Nevertheless, I loved him all the same, not seeing whatever flawed my perfect brother. Over the years, I’ve grasped a better understanding of what Down syndrome is. Basically, you and I have twenty-three sets of chromosomes in our bodies, each with two chromosomes in them. Someone who has Down syndrome has a third chromosome in their twenty-first set. This makes development of the brain slower, and takes some muscles longer to grow. Someone with the syndrome tends to have a flat nose with almond-shaped eyes, and are smaller than an average kid their age.
However, this does nothing to their personalities or heart. My brother has the biggest heart I have ever seen, and so much of it is for me, and Madison, and mom and dad. I ask myself, what would life be like without Bradley? And all I can think is, There wouldn’t be one.
So many people fear Bradley, and people like him, and all I can do is try to help them understand. Some people are bound and determined not to understand, at which all I can do is feel sorry for them. We miss out on many amazing life experiences and friendships if we push someone with special needs away, just because they are different and we’re scared and don’t know what to do. It has happened to me before, I have done it myself. I am ashamed to have done so, but everyone is human. I have never done the same mistake ever again, and hope that by reading this I have helped you to not make the same mistake I did. We wear crazy socks on March 21st to raise awareness. So please, let it be seen, let it be known, let it be heard; but don’t let it be feared. People with Down syndrome, special needs, they are just like you and me. Instead of fearing them, get to know them, make them welcome, be their friend. I want the same thing for my brother. Without him, our family like many others wouldn't be complete Oreos. And without Down syndrome, we wouldn’t have any vanilla with our chocolate. I love Bradley, as I’m sure all of you would too. :-)
By: Sydney Burnett, loving sister of Bradley Burnett
:-) <3 (-:
#downsyndromeawarenessmonth
#raiseawareness
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