Special

When Kyle first came into our family,

people would stop me to

look at the baby,

as people often do.

When they realized he has Down syndrome,

the response often went something like this...

"Oh, you must be SO special for

God to have given this baby to you."

 

I hated that sentence.

I wasn't special.

I didn't feel special.

I felt overwhelmed at times.

I felt worried and afraid that I wasn't equal to the task.

That I couldn't be enough to give this child a great life.

All I had was love.

Before he was born, to my shame,

I worried about whether I could love this child like I loved my other two.

The moment I laid eyes on him,

I fell head~over~heels in love,

and he became just a baby.

My baby.

The baby of our family.

 

I love this thought that I came across awhile ago,

there was no credit given for an author,

but it sums it up perfectly.

 

"God doesn't give children with special needs to strong people;

He gives children with special needs to ordinary, weak people and then gives them strength.

Raising a child with special needs doesn't take a special family,

it makes a special family."

 

I couldn't say it better.

I am not special.

I am not different.

Kyle makes me a better mom.

I have learned that I can be patient.

That little things don't matter.

I've learned so many things that I couldn't have learned without Kyle.

 

Kyle ~ blessing day July 1994

 

He is special ~ and I,

I am special by association.

Derek, Kyle, Scott ~ May 1995

 

He is special ~ and we,

as a family ~ are special because

without Kyle we would be lost, and

he helps us be better

than we would otherwise be.

 

Every individual ever born is special,

unique and important.

Those with "special needs" require that

we love more, slow down a little and

see the world, and others around us.

Those with "special needs" remind us who we are,

and help us become who we should be...

~ Someone Special ~