Family Support

 
To my brother, "retarded" means that a soul has come to this earth to rest and to teach. Jeffrey surely was our teacher! A number of our family have responded with careers of working with people with special needs. Friends, too! I am more than thankful!~~~ I wasn't very thankful when my brother, John spoke to me early on that Jeff was not responding as a "normal" child. He says my hackels shot up! It took me a whole two years to hear that message, then to ask, "Where do we go from here?" When Jeff was 5 or 6, John remembers Jeff visiting his home. He had a German Shepherd, "Horse," that Jeff was thrilled to hug and chase. He says, "After about an hour of running, Horse decided it was time to rest, and he put his shoulder against Jeff, and pinned him to the wall. After the commotion this created (Jeff screaming) the two of them went into the bedroom and laid down together for a rest. Even Horse knew that 'Special' did not mean anything other than to learn to communicate differently." John remembers only a handful of meetings with Jeff, always with a house full of people, where John recalls Jeff always fit in. Since my brother and I have not been on the same road traveled, these memories of his are pure gold. Thank you, John!