As a young boy with an imaginative mind, I used to cry myself to sleep by picturing how it would be like if something would happen to her. Innocently I had asked my mother if I could marry her - not knowing the difference between romantic love and my affection for her as a brother back then. As she grew up, the onus was on me to grow up even faster than I naturally would. I had to take care of the house at the age 4 onwards, sometimes crying at the grill door waiting for my mom to come home from work or doing errants, because I didn't want to. Growing up with her, I was given the task of disciplining her whenever she misbehaved or needed to understand certain norms- something I realized most brothers didn't have to do. Yet, when a cousin once bullied her I couldn't stop myself from kicking him where it hurt the most!Today when I observe other people who share experiences like these and see how Claw is maturing from her own experience of being Abby's sister, I'm glad for all that has happened. Oh, she puts our patience to the test many times and still misbehaves - but I look back and realize my family wouldn't be where it is today without her presence in our lives.
She teaches me so much; that life is essentially simpler than the way we live it, that patience and humility are lifelong lessons, that tragedy can turn into blessing, that God will and can make a way, that joy is a natural thing- sometimes we normal ones look more 'Down'-syndrome than her. But perhaps on top of all these things, this is the most valuable lesson :
That she has taught me to be a brother...
And so it's been 16 years of blessing.
