Today we took the girls to the Mall of America, just to get out of the house and get into some large open areas where they can really move. Lindsey isn't as enamored with the rides as she used to be -- she now wants to hit all the little toy stores around the amusement park and beg relentlessly for us to buy her product x, y and z.
But I did get her to go on the merry-go-around. She was all settled on her seat ready to go when I had to move over to make room for a mom getting her son on the horse next to us. He was probably 6 or 7 but was obviously suffering from low muscle tone as she had to lift him into the seat. He was blind and she was "showing" him the horse by putting his hands on it. He never spoke, he never showed any emotion, and the longer we were near him the more I realized how profound his issues probably are.
The ride started and the mom did all the things any mom does with her kid, asking him if he was having fun, pointing to family members along the way every time they went around. "Look! There's Grandma and Evan!" I look to see who she's pointing to, and there's a slightly older lady with a baby in a stroller in front of her, waving emphatically. The baby very clearly has Downs Syndrome.
I held Lindsey tight and counted my blessings, while praying for their family to have the strength to deal with theirs.
My heart goes out to those people. I can't help but wonder about the future as the parents age. I work with a lady whose mother is 77 and has a 57 year old child who is totally immobile. According to Anita her brother never was capable of participating in life or his own care. Her mother has been the sole care giver for all these years. Now, her mother is in poor health and the son is bedridden kept alive with a feeding tube. Not much of a life.
ReplyDeleteYou are right to count your blessings.
Dad