Blessings, all shapes and sizes

     So as part of my morning routine, I logged onto FB and one of my many friends had posted a video about a mother and the child people thought she should have aborted.  The boy aptly named Christian was born with severely cleft palette and literally born without eyes.  She talked about how most people told her she should have aborted him because, I am sure, that they felt the child would never lead a normal life or accomplish anything worthwhile.  I am proud to say that she had the courage to ignore the hate and love her son and now her son serves to inspire others.
     Of course, as most things do, got me to thinking.  (I know that it is a bad habit that gets me in trouble, but I am trying to cut back I promise.)  This isn't the first story I have heard where people share the attitude that just because someone isn't "perfect" that they can't contribute to the world and make people happy.  The whole attitude that disabled children and adults are nothing more than a drain on resources is so Medieval that it's disgusting, but it's a belief system that simply won't die.  These kids can do just as much in their own way for the world as all the Jobs, Gates and Buffets ever could.
     I use and I hope my brother Benjamin will forgive me, an amazing young man named Jessee.  Jessee is "disabled" and I put that in quotation marks to show just how inaccurate it is.  Because of circumstances beyond anyone's control, Jessee will probably not ever be a doctor or some great scientist.  (I say probably because every time I spend time around him, he always amazes me so whose to say what the future might hold.)   So many people will look at Jessee and list all the things that he will never do.  Well, let me list the things that he can do just to be spiteful.
     1.  Jessee can hunt and fish.  He often spends time with his family doing just these amazing things.  His skills can actually put food on the table.  How many "normal" people can say that.
     2.  Jessee can run and play just like everyone else.  The sheer joy I see every time I see him do this is breathtaking.  We could all learn a lesson or two from him on having fun.
     3.  Beyond anything else he can do, Jessee can make you smile.  His boundless enthusiasm and love lights up any room he is in.  The joy he brings his father, mother and sister is like a warm fire on a cold day.
     A friend of mine in college got pregnant because of rape.  She was encouraged by everyone to abort the baby. She refused because she believed that it would wrong to punish an unborn child for the sins of the father.  When Sera (Short for Seraphim yes my friends were all Geeks) was born she had a laundry list of health issues not the least of which was a congenital heart defect and Down's Syndrome.  The Dr.s told my friend that she probably wouldn't live more than a year and would never make it to adulthood.
     Now in a perfect happy world this is where I tell you that Sera grew up, lived to a ripe old age and became President or some proud thing, but this isn't a perfect world.  Sera lived exactly 11 months and five days before she moved on from our lives.  She never ran a marathon.  She never discovered the cure for Crow's Feet.  In most peoples' eyes, she probably never accomplished anything at all. but they'd be wrong.
     In her short life span, Sera smiled and made people feel good.  Sera brought joy and peace to everyone she met.  She loved unconditionally and gave everyone around her hope.  She enriched her mother's life and her "Uncle's" too.  She made the world a better place.  How many "normal" healthy adults can make that claim.   
     I have known lots of kids and adults like Jessee and Sera.  I have also seen how so many people look down on them.  I accepted a long time ago that I can't change ignorance and hatred.  It is a much a part of human nature as breathing.  So instead of hating these people, I just feel sorry for them.  Because of their ignorance, they will never know people like Sera, Jessee or Christian.  Maybe one day the human race will move beyond cookie cutter attitudes about people.  When that day comes, if it comes they will find the rest of us already there waiting for them.