A story about two friends, one who is mentally disabled, and the other, "normal".
I am best friends with Christina Felice Blalock; Chrissie has been my best friend for about two years now, and she is the best friend I ever had.
She also happens to be mentally handicapped. When she was born, it was found that she had something called Down's syndrome, which simply means that she was born with an extra chromosome; and because of it, it left her looking rather unusual and having mental retardation. Chrissie is fourteen and I am twelve, but Chrissie at times seems much younger. She acts more like a child of five than a child of fourteen, and she is short and heavyset for her age. She has slanted eyes, a flat nose, and a round moon face with red apple cheeks, and stick-straight, baby-fine blonde hair; but she is still very sweet and loving in nature, and she never has a mean word to say about anyonee. She is quick to giggle, and life itself is nothing but a sense of discovery and adventure for her.
I first met Chrissie when she came to our school from Seattle, Washington, two years back (I live in Nashville, Tennessee); and she was introduced to our class; and she has since been accepted by most of the kids in my class; but there are still a few eggheads who act all mean and crazy towards her, and when she gets teased, she cries; and I get mad. Teasing isn't nice anyway, but it is especially mean to tease someone who is different, and they can't help being different. Chrissie is one of those people, and when people tease her, she cries like a baby, and her nose runs, and it is gross and disgusting; but I try to stick up for her by telling the troublemakers in my class to lay off Chrissie; and I then defend her and dry her tears and tell her that I am still her friend and nothing can ever change that.
Chrissie is the oldest kid in her family; and her family is made up of six kids in the family, four of them who are adopted. (Chrissie is the oldest natural kid in her family; she has a younger brother, Evan, who is my age, which is twelve. They also have four adopted kids from Korea named Ivy-Rose [10], Robert David [9], Daniela Ann [8], and the youngest, four-year-old Yancey Charles.) All the kids in the Blalock family are very nice, and they are all very good towards their older handicapped sister. They know she learns at a slower pace than most kids, but they see her as a very loving and happy child who wouldn't harm a fly.
Although Chrissie is a teenager, she acts more like a young kid; and she has interests that are more suitable for a five-year-old than a fourteen-year-old. She loves to color and draw, and she loves to watch "Berenstein Bears" and "Barney" on tv. She also loves "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood". She also loves to look at picture books about animals (she loves kittycats), and she also loves to play pretend games and play with her dolls. I try to be understanding when I go to her house to play with her; but sometimes it is hard because I wish she could do more teenager-type things like go to the mall or go roller skating or go on sleepovers; but because of her disability, she is often teased, and she can't do many things that teenagers do even though she, technically, is a teenager herself. She also has a bad heart and sometimes has "fainting spells" which then cause her to go to the hospital; and that is always scary; but other than that, Chrissie is a good kid, and I am glad that we are friends. She loves to laugh and tell jokes (even if the jokes are very simple or the same one over and over!), and she thinks it is hilarious when people sneeze, cough, or fall. For some reason, when someone falls, sneezes, or coughs unexpectedly, Chrissie goes into a fit of giggles, and it takes some time for her to settle down; and it can get embarrassing, especially if she laughs in front of people. She laughs like a braying donkey, and her face turns as red as a tomato, and her slanted eyes disappear into her fat cheeks; but her laugh is contagious, and whenever I hear her giggles, I can't help BUT to laugh right along with her!
Even though people don't understand why I am best friends with a kid who is handicapped, I find her to be really no problem; she is just like me in a lot of ways, except that her mind works slower, and she has some physical and mental handicaps that make her different than most kids her age. Still, she does have feelings and interests, and she knows when people are being nice or mean towards her; and she doesn't like being teased or picked on. NO kid doesn't. All she wants is to have friends and be included in different activities, and as long as she is happy, then that is fine with me. She may be handicapped, but she is a person first, and she deserves to be treated just like any of my nonhandicapped friends, and she deserves to be happy and be treated with respect and compassion.
That is why I am friends with Chrissie, and I shall always be her friend, no matter what anyone else may think or say! Chrissie is a person, and I intend on being there for her, through thick AND thin!
Hello Karen,
A sweet well told story, thank you for sharing. It is nice to see a simple well told theme especially when written from the heart. Well Done Regards John W
I have written a chapter called I Am That, I Am in this inspirational compilation book by best-selling authors and wonderful people from all walks of life xox :-D (Its sister book is called Adventures In Manifesting - Success and Spirituality)
