Before you get all excited, this post is not about Sister Francis who taught dad how to take a real punch in the 4th grade at St. Monica. He's pretty sure her real name was Frank, but I digress. This post is also not about my wonderful sister Sarah or Dad's sister Dina who tolerated his abuse for years and still seems to like him. No, this post is about Richard's sister and many other sisters like her. Richard is a new friend of mine who joins me at Tennis Buddies on Saturdays. Richard has Downs Syndrome and is 53 years old. Don't let his age fool you. Besides playing tennis, Richard swims, and does karate among countless other activities. He's pretty cool. But even cooler is Richard's sister. Richard's sister cares for Richard. She drives him to all of his activities and is his primary caretaker. I am sure that when she was a young girl, she never imagined that she would be in such an important and trying role at her age, but she is and she is a hero. What would Richard do without her? No one plans to have a Richard in their lives, and no one plans to spend their golden years as a caregiver, but once fate challenges you, sisters like her show us what amazing people are out there in the world. I know my Big Sis is an amazing person who is literally capable of anything, and I know that when Mom and Dad are gone, she may be in the unenviable position of caring for me if I make it that far. I am convinced that she will be an exemplary mother and Sister making sure uncle Sammy and her kids have enough soccer balls and whiffle ball bats to go around. I would never ask her to volunteer for such a burden, and neither would Mom or Dad, but I know that she would step right in and keep me safe while caring for her family and changing the world for the better at the same time. Just like Richard's sister. So to Richard's sister and all sisters in the world caring for their disabled siblings in obscurity, you are my hero and I hope that everyone shares this post with as many sisters they can so that everyone knows what heroes sisters like Richard's are.
My name is Sammy and this is my blog. I wasn't supposed to be here, so since I am, I figured I'd try to make as big a difference as I can by making as many people smile as possible...
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Sisters
Before you get all excited, this post is not about Sister Francis who taught dad how to take a real punch in the 4th grade at St. Monica. He's pretty sure her real name was Frank, but I digress. This post is also not about my wonderful sister Sarah or Dad's sister Dina who tolerated his abuse for years and still seems to like him. No, this post is about Richard's sister and many other sisters like her. Richard is a new friend of mine who joins me at Tennis Buddies on Saturdays. Richard has Downs Syndrome and is 53 years old. Don't let his age fool you. Besides playing tennis, Richard swims, and does karate among countless other activities. He's pretty cool. But even cooler is Richard's sister. Richard's sister cares for Richard. She drives him to all of his activities and is his primary caretaker. I am sure that when she was a young girl, she never imagined that she would be in such an important and trying role at her age, but she is and she is a hero. What would Richard do without her? No one plans to have a Richard in their lives, and no one plans to spend their golden years as a caregiver, but once fate challenges you, sisters like her show us what amazing people are out there in the world. I know my Big Sis is an amazing person who is literally capable of anything, and I know that when Mom and Dad are gone, she may be in the unenviable position of caring for me if I make it that far. I am convinced that she will be an exemplary mother and Sister making sure uncle Sammy and her kids have enough soccer balls and whiffle ball bats to go around. I would never ask her to volunteer for such a burden, and neither would Mom or Dad, but I know that she would step right in and keep me safe while caring for her family and changing the world for the better at the same time. Just like Richard's sister. So to Richard's sister and all sisters in the world caring for their disabled siblings in obscurity, you are my hero and I hope that everyone shares this post with as many sisters they can so that everyone knows what heroes sisters like Richard's are.
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