I am 16 years old, and I am learning several things I have never thought I would: I am learning to be a compassionate, giving person.
I was always something of a rebel, especially during my early teen years. I was always in trouble with my adoptive parents, and I fought with them CONSTANTLY!! I hated having to have a lot of extra responsibility, and I hated having to babysit my little brothers and sisters (with the exception of my little kid brother, Michael, who is 3 years younger than me). I hated curfew, and I hated the rules I had to follow. I thought my adoptive parents were strict, and I hated following orders.
I felt that my adoptive parents only criticized me, that they didn't love me; and I would try to do anything to annoy the flip out of them. I was always getting grounded, and I felt that I didn't belong. So this was why I ran away sometimes and hung around gang kids because they seemed to give me a sense of friendship and belonging. But I soon found out that their idea of friendship was false and even dangerous at times. I was at risk of going to jail or even being dead, for some of the kids regularly carried things like guns or knives, and they often got into dangerous fights where a lot of blood was shed. It was a scary time and I didn't feel safe or secure.
Until that day when some of my "friends" were killed and some ended up in wheelchairs and were permanently paralyzed after they had been shot by rival gang kids. I learned right then just how valuable life is, and I decided right then and there to straighten up my act. It wasn't easy at first (mom and dad still were strict, and I still fought with them at times), but I learned that they were only looking out for my best interest, and I learned that they acted the way they did because they loved me and cared for me.
I then learned how to be around kids who were disabled. Sure, some of their disabilities scared me (like, for example, Johnny and Ronee' and their breathing problems, or Jodie's seizures and her inability to talk or move right), and it also frightened me whenever I saw Ronee's little face turn a pretty shade of blue as she gasped and fought for air or saw Johnny crumble to the floor as he went into a seizure and saw his little body jerking uncontrollably; but then I learned that they had problems, and they sometimes had these episodes. They were to be expected from time to time. And I learned how to deal with these problems and how to help my little disabled brothers and sisters.
I also learned how to provide care for them. I learned about things like changing diapers, setting up the I.V.'s for feeding (several of the kids are tube-fed), putting oxygen prongs into little noses and setting up the oxygen machine and turning it on,
clapping tiny chests to clear congested little lungs, and how to put leg braces on paralyzed or damaged little legs. I also learned how to adjust crutches whenever they needed adjusting (thanks to the kids getting bigger), and how to read directions on medicine bottles or formulas. Sure, at times, it is hard, but I have learned to understand that some kids need a little extra help, and helping them actually makes me feel good and even important.
I learned about different diseases and illnesses and the stuff that goes behind each one: arthritis, diabetes, cancer, muscular dystrophy or other neuromuscular disorders, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, dwarfism. I learned that there were different forms, and I also learned about things like mental retardation, deafness, blindness. I found each one fascinating, and I was beginning to admire my little brothers and sisters because even though they were disabled, they all had a spirit that soared above their incapabilities, and they all seemed--well, "normal". They were like me in a lot of ways, more ways than I really realized. They just happened to have special problems, but even despite them, they were more normal than most people gave them credit for.
A lot of people don't understand the world of the disabled because a lot of times they aren't exposed to it. Oh, they see people on canes, crutches, or in wheelchairs, or they may see a blind person tapping their cane along a sidewalk or sharing a walk with a canine friend who acts as their "eyes", but as a whole, they really don't encounter disabled people on a regular basis. There is often a lot of misunderstanding or misconceptions about the disabled, and people are understandably uncomfortable around those who are "different". It is only human nature.
I know, as I was there one time myself. But once I started being around disabled people on a regular basis, I found them quite fascinating, and I found them to be just like me in a lot of ways. They have really opened up my mind and my eyes, and I am forever grateful for them because if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be the person I am today. So I thank God for my family, and I especially thank God for my disabled brothers and sisters. They are the true inspirations in my life, and I thank each and every one of them. They are truly special, and they are the reasons for my transformation.
It is to them that I offer my heartfelt thanks and gratitude.
Yes, there needs to be more understanding and compassion towards the disabled, I agree but those of us who are disabled need to remove the "dis" out of the able and concentrate of the "able" rather than the "dis". This is what I do. Love in Christ, Karissa
Great wwrite Karen, I pray you are working on getting some of these stories published, they would make a great book, one I would certaintly by.
In Christ Love
YSIC
MIchelle
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