My Baby Brother with Down Syndrome- a Teenager’s Perspective

My name is Eden and I am 13 years old. I live on a farm was we have chickens and rabbits we are also getting pigs. I now have 5 siblings,  4 younger brothers, and an older sister.  My youngest brother was born with Down Syndrome.

When my dad told me about my brother,  Cedar’s diagnosis, I wasn’t very educated and did not know what Down Syndrome was.

 

It took a few days before I really understood the gravity of what he was saying.

 

My mom took it the hardest, but did her research thoroughly, and did her best to educate us on what down syndrome meant for our family. We watched videos about people with down syndrome, and we also watched a reality tv show called Born This Way about young adults with down syndrome finding their way into adulthood and learning their limitations.

 

Learning about his diagnoses helped me to love Cedar even more. When I tell my friends about him I usually tell them how down syndrome is when a child is born with 47 chromosomes instead of 46 (like you and me) this extra chromosome is usually the outcome of one parent giving one too many chromosomes.  Cedar has Trisomy 21, that means on his 21^st set of chromosomes he has 3 instead of 2 (one from each parent).

 

As a 13-year-old and 7^th grader I know kids aren`t kind, even to someone who has no mental or physical handicaps.  People judge you on how you look, if your clothes match, if you have lots of money etc, to me these things aren`t important.

 

I don’t care if you buy your clothes from a designer clothing boutique or a thrift shop (some of my clothes do come from there and might I say they are sensible and fabulous). I look for how you treat others. Most the time I try not to care what others think of me and I know that will be extra hard for Cedar knowing that makes me want to be with him and protect him all his life but I know that’s not very realistic and he will need to learn to hold his own with common bullies.

There is no doubt there have been hard times already, like when Cedar had to go to the hospital for R.S.V.  For you and I, it would just be a common cold, but for Cedar it wiped him out for days. Mom was with him in the hospital for a whole week, he was hooked up to wires and monitors cataloging his every move. We learned that Cedar has a weaker immune system and weaker lungs due to his heart condition.

 

All I wanted was for our whole family to be together. But I knew I had to be strong for my mom.  Mom needed me to help dad watch the boys at home and let them know everything would be ok, But I wanted someone to comfort me. To tell me everything would be ok.

 

During that time I felt like we were being tested to show our love for Cedar we were spread thin and wearing out.

 

Every day I grow to love Cedar more and more I cherish every smile, and every coo . Those are the things that let me know that everything will be okay.