Aron: The name means “mountaineer” or “mount of strength.”

The name Aron means mountain of strength, and my parents couldn’t have given my older brother a more suiting name. Aron was born two months premature, with jaundice, and with three heart murmurs. A couple months after Aron’s birth, the doctors wanted to see him back for more testing. After his testing, the doctors then told my parents that their first born and their baby boy had been diagnosed with Downs syndrome and was also going to be autistic. Three years later I was born, and two years after that, Aron had to undergo open heart surgery at the age of five so that the doctors could close up one of the heart murmurs that had failed to close on its own. There were no complications and Aron pulled through like he always does; he has had various other surgeries over the years, although none have been as serious as open-heart.

Aron has a severe case of both Down Syndrome and autism; he can’t talk, therefore, he can’t say "I love you too" when I tell him I love him. He doesn’t have very good hand-eye coordination so he was never able to teach me to throw a ball, and he can’t express himself like you or I could. However, I feel as if I often know how he’s feeling. As I stated before, Aron is my older brother; however, in a lot of ways I take on the big sister role. I help Aron in a multitude of ways, such as fixing his meals from time to time. When I got my license, I had to drive not only myself but also Aron around, and I’ve always been very protective over my brother and looked out for him as if he was my younger brother.

Even though Aron doesn’t assume most roles that an older brother usually does, he’s still taught me more than I could ever thank him for. Aron couldn’t warn me about teachers in school, or threaten to hurt any boy that hurt me, nor was he able to teach me to ride a bike or do any other older brotherly duties. Aron taught me so much more, though. He taught me what it means to be selfless and put someone else before myself. He has taught me strength; after everything he’s been through, he still smiles with such ease. He has taught me patience, as I have to be patient with him when he doesn’t quite understand what’s going on.

So when I have a hard day or I feel as if I’m at a low, I often think of my brother and everything he has gone through and everything that he has been able to overcome. Aron, my brother, is a mountain of strength who has faced many obstacles that he’s had to overcome. Aron is a constant reminder to not take this life for granted, because I know I get so many opportunities that he will never have, and I know that the same blood that runs in him runs in me. When I have a day that I feel stressed from class or overwhelmed, and I feel as if the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to dim, I remember that I am a sister to a mountain of strength.