In the life of a child with special needs, I’ve noticed there’s a group of people that go unacknowledged and unthanked every day. Being the older sister of an amazing, intelligent, and loving sibling with special needs, I too forget to thank these people. My friends.
It’s only natural to want to thank & acknowledge the people who have a direct impact every day in my sister’s life such as teachers, doctors, my own family. I never realized that my own friends had such a large impact in my sister’s life, until we all came home for winter break and my sister named every single one of them asking when they would come see her. She was just excited to see them as she was to see me.
So, thank you. Thank you for being completely cool with my sister coming to hang out with us, even though we all know she’ll be bored in an hour and I’ll have to leave to bring her home. Thank you, for respecting the “No R-Word” rule in my house, and when you do slip up, immediately correcting yourself, and even trying to not use it when we aren’t at my house.Thank you for treating her like your own little sister, and being ready to kick a 12-year old’s ass just as much as me, when he wants to be a bit of bully. Thank you for making my sister feel welcomed into your lives, so much that it seems she likes you more than me sometimes. For most of you, thank you for stepping out of your comfort zones and learning what it takes to be a part of someone with special need's life, something many of you have never had to do.
And a personal thank you from me:
As humbled and blessed I am every day to have a sibling with special needs, it’s not always easy. To all my friends, thank you for being my rock, the best support system, and never failing to be there when things get overwhelming or sometimes, even scary. Your patience, love, & kindness doesn’t go unnoticed.
To the friends who didn’t make the cut:
I’m not a hard person to be friends with, I pretty much get along with everyone. What makes or breaks my friendships, is how you are around my sister. You probably made a comment about my sister tagging along with us, used the “R-Word” one too many times around her, or were just plain mean because you were dealing with something you never had to before, but didn’t want to. The friends I have now have made an effort to understand my sister, and have learned to love her just as she is. I hope, you too, one day learn to love someone with special needs because you’ll learn what unconditional love truly is and that there’s always a reason to smile.
