Family stuff

Aug 30, 2010 21:27

My mom called this morning to tell me my aunt--her youngest sister, who has Down Syndrome--has pneumonia. Her mind has been failing over the last few years, and going fast the last few months. In the last month she's been bed-ridden and down to no solid foods. Just last week they said her mind was pretty much gone, but her body was in good shape, so she could live for quite a while yet. But now she has pneumonia, and they expect she'll be gone within a couple days, a week at the most. I suppose it's a blessing that she'll go relatively fast, rather than lingering on in a vegatative state for months or years.

She was a sweet gal. She used to love when Dad picked on her, always with jokes she would get; then she would scold him for picking on her. I kind of looked up to her at one stage when I was a kid. Her Down Syndrome wasn't severe, but noticeable. I always knew she was different, but I never equated it as something wrong with her. That's just not the way we approached it in my family. We always gave her love, respect, and patience, and made her feel a part of everything. She knew she wasn't as smart as everyone else, and it frustrated her at times, but she was never excluded; if any adjusting to her limitations was done, we did it without a second thought. We loved, supported, and encouraged her, did whatever we could to make her feel like she was no different from anyone else. She thought the world of her family--whatever differences we might have amongst ourselves--and we think the world of her.

family

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