This I Believe

                I believe in the power of family. My faith in this concept of family comes from my own family, and the way we handled Robert. Robert is the 5^th of 7 children in my family. I was 7 years old when Robert was born. My brother Andy was 5 and my twin sisters Jamie and Jennifer were 3. We were close before Robert came. We would have been close if he never came. But he came, and because he came, we are close. Robert was born on February 12 with a rare condition called arthrogryposis. He says he kind of looks like a ventriloquist dummy. The night he was born was not one we thought would end well. An emergency c section, a name and a blessing from a loving father, goodbyes from crying siblings and a long wait for a newborn to return to his maker. The wait was too long. Long enough for the doctors to take back their prediction of death and cause a flurry of activity to keep this tenacious fellow with us just a little longer.

                The weeks, months, and years that followed were stressful. Life flights to Primary Children’s Hospital were a regular thing. Aunts and uncles stepping up to be there when my parents couldn't  a grandpa that went to work inventing contraptions that would allow his grandson to participate, a father who would bow hunt with a backpack so that his son could go, older brothers who teased him because he’s normal, younger brothers who wrestled their fragile older brother because that’s just how he is, a mother who’s time suddenly wasn’t so much her own, and the list goes on and on. THIS is the power of family.

Just for the sake of understanding, Robert is all there mentally. In fact some might say he’s smart. Just don’t tell him that. It will go to his head. He’s 13 years old now, loves the Steelers and Clippers, drives a wheelchair with his head and really talks a lot of trash. I am close to him because, in my family, we choose to be. I have been a part of some special things because Robert was born the way he was. He’s my friend and brother and why I KNOW there is power in family.