You Move Me
You move me like the ocean tumbling a grain of sand
Like a child pulling sheets across a room building a secret fort.
You move me like a butterfly moves from one nectar filled flower to the next.
Like a toddler going back… fourth on the swings while mom and dad push.
You move me to a time when choices were simple.
To play or not to play?
Oranges or apples?
Outside or inside?
These are the choices that you will make your whole life.
Never being squished by pressure and strife
The path you will take has been laid out before you
Always made so you will be happy,
Twisting and turning through others lives
Taking a pause here, giving a hug or two there.

But its not a life we should be envious of
Learning to dress yourself at age 9
Having a real conversation at age 12
No driving cars, no sleepovers with friends
Your independence is over before it begins.
Not knowing how to tell someone when you need their help
Usually showing them with a scream or a yelp.
Losing a C.D. that you’ve had for years
Not finding it brings you to sobbing tears

To live the life of Downs Syndrome…

To be 24 years old and call your mom crying because your sister wont let you have a 6th slice of pizza.
To have little children point at you and run away screaming just because you look different.
To have the order in which your shirts hang memorized.
To ask for plastic Africa animals for Christmas.
The life that you live, no one can truly understand.

And that is what makes you so special.

When you come up to me when I’m sad and tell me everything’s going to be alright.
Telling a joke that you heard once and making everyone fall over laughing.
Knowing the words to every song the Backstreet Boys ever made.
Talking along with Shrek 1, 2, and 3 every day after school.
This is what makes you so special.

Every simple thing you do, is a line to your fingerprint.
Together making a mosaic of your beautiful personality.
To some, you may seem a child.
But to me, you are pure honesty
If your sad: you cry
If you want something: you take it
If your happy: you laugh until your sides hurt.

Sometimes I wish I could be more like you.
Not have a care in the world, no one telling me what to do.
But instead I just appreciate you being around
Creating a peace that we never would have found.
So now ill read you your bed time story and kiss you goodnight,
While you tell me everything will be alright.