Lessons of Love {Guest Post}

One of the things I love most about blogging is the incredible people this medium gives me the opportunity to know. Holly Michaels, from Writing Straight, is one of those people. Holly is an author, a wife, a mother, and a Christian of profound spiritual depth, who also bears the unique capacity to simultaneously challenge and inspire me on a consistent basis. Today, she continues that legacy with this article, where she reminds us that love has the power to teach, to change, and to heal.

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“Listen,” Amy said. “Babies crying. Get babies.” She patted her bed. “I help babies.”

My little sister Amy, born with Down syndrome, became my greatest teacher. I discovered Amy’s body in a pond on our family farm, when I was fifteen. Amy was six. Her death sent me spiraling into depression. I didn’t want to live anymore. Then my healing began when opened up the little blue notebook—my diary, where I’d recorded stories about her.

I’d like to share a few of the lessons of love I learned from my sister, a child born with a disability in the days when it wasn’t uncommon to institutionalize Down Syndrome children.

This short entry was lifted from my teenage journal:

As heavy snowflakes smacked the window in the children’s ward at the hospital, Mom said she’d better return to the farm. Amy was having tubes put in her ears and her adenoids removed. I volunteered to stay. Mom called a few hours later. It was snowing heavy and she couldn’t return. That night I slept in a chair beside Amy’s crib. She was quiet but wouldn’t sleep. I opened my eyes after dozing off to discover Amy standing, wide-eyed. She was only three. I thought she was scared and confused.

“Listen,” Amy said. “Babies crying. Get babies.” She patted her bed. “I help babies.”

Suddenly, I felt so small compared to Amy. She wasn’t worried about herself. She was worried about the other children. She wanted me to bring them to her crib so she could care for them. Her bravery brought tears to my eyes.

Amy touched my shoulder. “It’s ok Holly. I help you, too.”

I wanted to be strong like her, so I managed everything the next day, even cradling her small drugged body and handing her to the doctor at surgery time. Mom returned when Amy was released and the roads had been cleared.

From Amy, I learned to be brave.

Amy attended Sunshine School, a little country school for children with Down syndrome. Her teachers reported that Amy always carried a tissue in her hand to wipe her classmate’s noses. She’d pat kids on the back who were sad and hug them when they cried.

From Amy, I learned to be compassionate.

Here’s another Amy story, taken from my old journal:

I stepped off the bus in a bad mood to find Amy lying on her stomach in the grass of the front yard, laughing. I joined her. With a toothless grin, she smiled, pointed and said, “Look Holly, hoppers.” Then she threw back her head and giggled when the grasshoppers jumped. I abandoned my worries and got lost for hours in the grass with Amy, searching for hoppers and simply laughing.

From Amy, I learned to put aside my worries and enjoy the simple things in life.

Amy’s face carried a perpetual smile and her arms were always stretched out to hug.

I was Amy’s record keeper. I kept her words on paper and her memories in my heart. I cherished the story of how Amy pitied a skunk, trapped by our dog, in the garage. Amy snuck through a side door, let the skunk out, and scolded the barking dog. The skunk didn’t spray her.

From Amy, I learned to love the underdog.

Reading her stories encouraged me when I wanted to give up. Even in her death, she inspired me. And today, so many years later, I carry her lessons of love in my heart.

In my novel, Crooked Lines (a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novelist Award), I weave in the stories of Amy, taken from my old journals. You can download the first three chapters here.

And for an inspiring little story, My Emily by Matt Patterson, a father’s story about his beloved daughter who was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome, then Leukemia, please read my review. It is one of the most powerful stories I’ve ever read.

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Holly Michaels writes for Writing Straight, and is currently anticipating the release of her new book, Crooked Lines.

Photo from RFC-Antigua.org

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