A Poem
By Esti Levitansky Rokowsky
Written at age 17 in honor of her special sibling
A feeble cry shatters the still air
another child born
Joy, happiness, ecstasy, laughter -
crash!
Suddenly our world comes tumbling down!
Hushed whispers there,
tears falling here
What is wrong with our beautiful little girl?
"Down Syndrome," the doctor mechanically pronounces
"nothing will become of her," he says
But-she-needs-us...
Problems arise from the start
everything so foreign
but
as the days fly by,
she, step by step,
becomes a part of our routine
New therapies introduced every day
strangers welcome in our home
as we grasp onto any straw within our reach.
"Do something," we cry
anything...
to prove the doctors wrong
and we try to help and do our share
For-she-needs-us...
Months pass by,
slowly, slowly
we learn to love. To care. To share.
We learn the joy of giving-
and receiving in return.
Joy resounding -
can it be?
Our baby - our miracle-
Walking. Talking. Dancing. Laughing. Running. Jumping. Singing. Playing.
Yet-she-still-needs-us...
Eagerly we look forward to her first day of school-
she goes to a real school - like me and you
and she learns like everyone else
and she plays, and laughs, and cries...
like everyone else
and,
like everyone else,
she-needs-us...
Slowly, ever so slowly,
wounded hearts start to heal
and we learn -
that there is more than what meets the eye
and we learn to love from her
and we love to learn from her
and
gradually...
We need her.
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