Saturday, April 14, 2012

Love is Blind


After the realization that Sam had Down's Syndrome had sunk in, we shared the news of his arrival and his condition with everyone. The outpouring of love and support was overwhelming. But the first time the girls came to meet him at the hospital, we couldn't bring ourselves to tell them. We just wanted them to have fun meeting their brother....they had waited so long and were so excited that he was finally here. They couldn't stop kissing him, and touching him...and truth be told, they were flat out fighting over who got to hold him next, who got to hold him the longest and who loved him more. It was pretty obvious that they were instantly in love with their little brother.

But after they left that first day, I told Kevin "we have to tell them." We decided we'd let them skip Sunday School on Sunday morning so they could come and hang out with Sam instead. We used the book "We'll Paint the Octopus Red" as a model to break the news to them. Kevin asked each of the girls what they wanted to do with Sam when he got bigger. They said they were going to go 4-wheeling with him, play legos with him, teach him to color, read books to him, play games with him, teach him to play basketball, and many other things. They had all sorts of ideas. Then Kevin asked a tough question: "Do you girls know what Down's Syndrome is?" Our oldest wrinkled up her nose and said "what's that?"

We then told them that Sam has Down's Syndrome, and that while he's going to be just like any other little brother, he's going to need a little extra time and help to learn how to do new things. We explained that it will take patience when we're teaching him something new.

Worry clouded their little faces...for about a minute. Sure, they asked questions that day, and they still do today. But when you see them look at their little brother, all you see is love.

Love is blind. The love they have for their brother is so strong that they see right past the little detail we've spent so much time worrying over. Even with the knowledge that Sam is a little "different", they still fight over who's going to hold him first, who's going to hold him the longest and who loves him more. I don't think they've walked past him yet without stopping to give him a little peck on his peach-fuzz-covered head, or see if he'll grab ahold of their finger. (which we've decided is his way of telling us "I love you")

I can only hope that Sam's love for me is blind as well - that he'll see past the mom that cried instead of sang when he was born. I pray he'll forgive and understand all the emotions I've felt, and just know that I love him more than words can say and that he's my FAVORITE little boy in the WHOLE WIDE world!!

Sam has taught us all a lot already, and I truly believe he's going to teach the world to love blindly.

1 comment:

  1. Amanda, Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Your words are beautiful and so heartfelt. When I was reading about telling the girls it made me tear up, I can't imagine how hard that must have been. But your girls are amazing and so loving (you and Kevin have taught them well!) that you are right, LOVE is blind. Sam is one lucky little guy to be born into such a loving and strong family! This blog is going to inspire so many...it already has me! And, yes, I will join team Sam right now!

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