An Open Letter to My Younger Brother With Cerebral Palsy

Dear Frankie, You may not know the impact you've had on my life. I have endless memories of ​our childhood together ​and ​I could probably write about them forever. But there are specific moments​​ looking back​ that I realize just in how many ways, I am who I am because of you. One of these moments I remember quite vividly. It was a beautiful summer day and we were excited because mom had the day off. Giancarlo (​o​ur older brother) was playing with friends and so it ended up being just me, you and mom. You were in that blue stroller you used to have when you were 8 years old. With my hand on one of the handles, mom pushed the stroller and we cheerfully walked down Ft. Washington Avenue and 173rd street in uptown Manhattan ​when​ we ran across two young boys playing outside. They began to laugh and tease you, pointing and saying things like​,​ "Look at the big baby ​i​n the stroller!" I was in shock and infuriated that they could be so cruel. I wanted to run over to them and tell them a thing or two but mom told us to ignore them, that they didn't know any better. I looked over to you and to my surprise you were calm and unaffected -- you seemed to understand that they were ignorant. I on the other hand didn't understand why they were making fun of you. You were just my normal little brother in a stroller. What was so strange about that? For years, I was under the impression that mami's​ approach of handling the repeated public insensitiv...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news