My brother happens to have Down syndrome.  He was born with an extra chromosome; because of it; he is mentally disabled and seems much younger than he is.  At the age of seven, Travis cannot read but the simplest of picture books and is just now learning to write his letters and numbers.  He is not toilet trained just yet (but Mom and Dad are both working with him on this).

In addition, Travis has heart problems and has already had three heart surgeries (and more to come, I'm sure).  It's always a scary time whenever his heart acts up or he has to go to the hospital, for whatever reason it may be (mainly it is his heart or because he has to have another surgery).

 When he's that bad sick, I stay with him at the hospital; I don't want him being all by himself; I am worried that he will get scared.  So if he's stable enough or not having too much in the way of severe problems, I sleep on a couch near his bed, along with Mom (or Dad, or whoever happens to be with Travis at the time).

On the other hand, when Travis is well, we play non-strenuous games that won't tax his heart and I also love to color, draw, or play board games with him.  He is a stickler when it comes to detail or learning new things, but with Travis, one has to be patient, since his level of learning is so painfully slow.  I don't mind helping Travis, though; he is my little brother, after all, and my best little buddy!

Well, I have to go; it's nearly time to go to the Pumpkin Carnival at our church, where there are non-scary, non-threatening events for people of all ages.  Should be a lot of fun!  We are also gonna pick pumpkins tomorrow and try to find a nice one for our Jack-O-Lantern for Halloween night.  Then we're goinna go to Wal*Mart and pick out our Halloween costumes.  I want to be a pirate and Travis wants to be a cowboy.

Take care; may God bless you always!  This is Codie Jason Magnavox (yeah, like the tv) saying so long!

~Codie Jason. :)