'Accept it. I promise it'll get better'
Let's call him Mark shall we. A four year old boy. Youngest of 3 children to his parents. Visited the Respite Home once a week. The youngest who goes there... definitely the cutest! I had never before heard of the Syndrome that he suffered from. His file revealed all – Mark was born with leukaemia, amongst other things. He had been diagnosed with a heart defect. Digestive problems meant he could only eat some types of food but was required to be tube-fed through his belly. Muscular and joint pain kept him up most nights a week, t'was dormant during the day. Lastly this adorable 4 year old was shorter than an average 2 year old healthy boy. He wore the most innocent blue eyes. His speech and ability to communicate is immaculate; 'Why are you talking to me like that? I'm not a baby. I'm 4 now even though I look smaller!'
Suppose his older brother would be called Jamie? Lets roll with that. At 7 the boy is handful and a half to care for. Brilliant imagination. Playful - cops and robbers, aliens and CCTV's; and he always owns a licensed handgun! Hyperactive (– running behind him is a great workout if you're looking to lose some pounds!). Terribly low attention span. Add to the mix a good dollop of anti-social behaviour. Home-schooled by his mother.
Mark and Jamie have an older sister – Helen. 8 years old. 'Normal'.
Penny, the trios mother, is 28. Drops her 2 sons at the Respite Home every Wednesday. Once a week the Home gets a taster of what the woman goes through every day of the week. Its rough. Jamie constantly running up and down the places, playing cops and robbers and hurling verbal abuse in every direction -for he is the prince of his will. Well overprotective of Mark -which is adorable but highly inappropriate in the manner of which he does it! Mark is a very well behaved toddler with higher demands of personal care. tube-fed at meals. Muscle ache by night. Functioning on 3 hours of sleep a day Penny juggles her job, attends to Marks and Jamie's needs, home-schools Jamie. Helen? Lost in the chaos.
Anti-depressants are practically an integral part of Penny's daily diet! 'Accept it. I promise it'll get better' ...yah right!
The World is your biggest teacher. You just need to want to learn. Lessons learned. If broken you survive on Hope. Even if there isn't any. Life chooses its victims. It has no 'Pause' button.
'If God puts you to it, He sees you through it' – Really?
