Down Syndrome Angel

***this poem is about my older brother Ben. he is 18 and has Down Syndrome. he has many friends {{also disabled}}} and they all are bright and fun to hang around with just like any "normal" kid and it ticks me off seeing some "normal" people laugh or make fun of ppl who are disabled in any way. so i dedicate this to my big bro Ben, the one who taught me strength and tolerance!***

he has no worries,
no cares.
even though life didn't come easy,
he doesn't complain.

right from the start the doctors knew what was wrong,
he wasn't a normal, healthy baby boy.
two holes in his heart, open hearted surgery was needed
not even five days old he needed an ostomy too
poor baby boy wont be going home anytime soon.

months gone by still in the hospital hours away from home,
hooked up on iv's and monitors,
fighting to get better,
but he was still holding on strong.
a couple months later he finally gets to go home,
still, he'll need special help but he's ready to finally go.

a couple years later, he has a baby sister,
and right from the day she was born they grew close.
he still was in and out of the hospital
poor little boy, the fight was not over.

he started school like a "normal" kid,
got up to 2nd grade then they pulled him back to kindergarten.

now he's eighteen, and is going to start is freshman year in high school.
smile on his face, he's ready to go.
there's never a day he complains
he just takes them one at a time.

he understands somethings that a lot of people don't think he would.
he has the same interests as a lot of other kids
but still some people just push him around and laugh
cause they just wanna be "cool"
he doesn't understand that part though,
how some of these people around are so mean,
he thinks he's just one of the guys even if they don't know him at all.

he has a lot of friends,
and some of his sisters friends adore him as well,
most people who take the time to get to know him too
fall for him as well.
his love for people is unconditional,
no matter what age or who they are.
he doesn't see what a lot of us see in each other
he likes people for how they treat him,
and how they give him some sort of attention.

its sad to see that some of us "normal" people
laugh and push aside some other people
who are less fortunate with the way they were brought into the world.
just look one of these kids or adults in the eyes
respect them, don't laugh
you think they'd want to be the way they are?
you think they would have chosen being that way?

i look at him, and his friends and i see that they aren't
really any different than you and me,
they laugh
they cry
they smile
they whine
they hurt
they bleed
they can love anyone and have a good time too.
that poor little boy who was in hospitals for the first few months of his life grew up,
and loved the life he was given.
never asked why, or complained about the things he's unable to do.

he has no worries,
no cares in the world,
even though life didn't come easy
he still doesn't complain.
he takes each day head on,
never gives up, pushes to succeed.
he proves that anything is possible,
just be strong and be who you are
take each day head on
don't give up,
walk with your head up smile on face
anything and everything is possible, just believe it
looking in his eyes proves it to me.