A mother writes about her little boy, Zacherie, who has significant disabilities.
My name is Elise. Elise Hammond. I have three children, ages seven, four, and two. I live alone; my husband divorced me. Cheating. I couldn't handle it any more, so I divorced him.
Better that way, for both myself and the children. Now I'm a single parent; struggling to make ends meet, but with God's grace, I'm making it. Thank GOD for family and church!
I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have God in my life, especially since our middle child came into the world. Little Zacheriah (Zacherie for short, or Zach) is four now, but he has faced an uphill battle ever since he was born. He's special, and he's my light, my joy. He's the one who keeps my world turning on its axis.
Zacheriah was born with Down syndrome, heart problems (in relationship with his Down's; a lot of people with Down's syndrome have heart issues), hearing loss, and mild cerebral palsy that affects his ability to walk. He can walk, but not well; therefore, he uses crutches to get around easier.
Zacherie is a happy, carefree child full of little-boy giggles and charm. He loves to play with his toy trucks and cars, and he loves to watch cartoons on TV (we let him watch "SpongeBob SquarePants" and the old "Bugs Bunny" cartoons we have on DVD; we also let him watch "Popeye"), play with his other brother Zane and sister Zinnia, and draw.
In school, Zacherie is learning to read and write. He is very smart, even with his physical/mental problems. He has lots of friends at his school; the teachers there just love him to pieces.
Sometimes we get stares or comments from people whenever they see Zacherie with us; we just ignore them, and we move on. We aren't about to let the narrowmindedness of some people ruin our day; our days are busy with the three children, just trying to keep up with them, trying to keep up with the demands of life, parenthood.
It's not easy in my case, as I'm the only parent now, since their dad is now out of our life.
Well, I will write more about Zacheriah soon, so stay tuned!
Note: Since my husband's cancer surgery 4/25/05, this book content has been integrated into the public speaking content for audiences interested in a sassy approach to personal and/or community awareness events. Another chapbook on intimate love poet
