Recently, my sister lends me her favorite necklace when I have a special event with my friends, like a dinner, a class, or a business meeting. She slowly unbuttons it and puts it around my neck and tells me: “This will bring you luck.” And as someone who cries easily, I shed tears. To wish someone well, you need to be a good person to give your favorite object. My sister. He turned 41 last week and since then I’ve been thinking about the things I’ve learned and admired from him, which is just too much.
until the day he was born world of the mentally handicapped trisomy in general and in particular was located in a distant galaxy. Moreover, they were a black hole that I looked at with wonder and admiration. I saw a kid driving an imaginary car on the streets of my town, ran into someone with Down Syndrome at the supermarket, and other than that, not much had happened. He was 10 years old and entering turkey age, like someone entering a four-lane highway. Full throttle. It changed everything. basically.
While it may seem cliché, my sister changed my perception of what beauty is and above all the value of intelligence. Having a medium, high, or very high IQ opens doors, helps to understand the world, and expands opportunities for well-being, which is already plenty, but there is also a gentle and unconventional intelligence that makes every second you share with the person who has it transcendent and powerful. .
I realized that everyone has a rhythm. Learning, acting or understanding the environment. Some rhythms may be more in tune with our fast-paced world, be more productive, and produce better results, but that doesn’t mean they’re better than those that take a little longer to get where they are. It showed me that one can (and should) learn to respect different tempos. It is healthy to get out of the ethnocentrism of our own navel. I realized that my purpose with him is to provide you with the greatest possible well-being, taking into account your reality and your nature, not my reality or what society expects. I want to remove the false expectations from your life, the pressure on what should be, the frustration of not getting where everyone else is. He is how he is. He is what he is. And that’s great (Note to self: Integrating this attitude with my kids will avoid silly arguments).
I’ve learned to call them “little angels”, “poor things”, “little children” or say they’re all so nice and loving. It bothers me that it’s retrograde. No malice but let’s assume that everyone has a place in this society and should receive the support they need to thrive with the greatest possible dignity. I’m thinking of people with mental disabilities, as well as the elderly, those with mental illness, or anyone with a slightly higher cost of living. This is not just a social demand, it is selfishness. A society that protects the disadvantaged is better for all.
I don’t need a necklace to bring me good luck. My real luck is that my sister exists. Congratulations Lourdes.