Thursday, July 2, 2009

Repost-Always Reaching

Sunflowermom posted this awhile back and then I posted it, it's so beautiful that I wanted to go ahead and post it again for those who haven't seen it.







"Always Reaching"

written by a father of a child with Down Syndrome: From the STL DS Newsletterby Matthew’s Dad



Every time I see my son, I reach for him. It doesn’t matter if he rounds the corner 4 seconds after I have seen him last, or if I am picking him up from school and have not seen him for hours…I reach for him. I can be 1 foot away or 100 feet away…I reach for him just the same. I reach for him with my arms, with my eyes, with my heart. I wonder sometimes what I am reaching for. I have seen this in other people when they see my son.My family, my friends and perfect strangers. They all reach for him. I see the same movements, the same gestures, the same need to hold out their hands for him. They want him to come to them, some know him and some don’t. Some call his name and others just motion for him. But they all seem to want him to come.For a moment, you can see his spirit reflected in their faces. I watch the smiles grow across their faces with a fullness that is unavoidable.When he falls into their arms (which is what he does to everyone), I see a momentary peace envelop them, and their eyes close, they pull him in and they experience what I call “The Joy of Matthew”.He gives it to you. He wraps you in it. He wriggles and squirms and mashes the love into you. If you did not know what to expect, you may be surprised and find yourself amazed at the feeling, overwhelmed at the emotion he carries with him. I am lucky. I get to hold him all the time.And I have been able to think about that feeling and where it comes from and what it may mean. I think Matthew is a window through which we see a pureness of emotion… pure happiness, pure sorrow, pure joy and pure love.Despite what some may think, our special children are closer to God than we are. We see so much in them that we lack. We wish quietly in so many ways that we could be more like them. And when we hold them, if just for a moment, we feel closer to God.That must be why I am always reaching for my son. That must be why they all reach for him

6 comments:

Denise said...

Thanks for reposting this as I haven't seen it before. It is so true. I just came back from a trip to Walmart and at least four people stopped to talk to Ella and just beamed when she would smile back at them. It makes me feel good every time.

Wendy P said...

Oh that's beautiful and true, I think. I hadn't seen that before. Thank you.

Stephanie said...

I've never seen this before either, it's so beautiful, these kids of ours are so special and this dad nailed it.They do something or bring something special to everyone they are around. It's actually amazing to watch. Thanks for posting this again.

To Love Endlessly said...

Thank you for posting this. Do you mind if I post this on my blog as well?

Tausha said...

Wow, thank you so much, that is a beautiful post. Made the tears start rolling.

Ria said...

So beautifully written! Thanks for sharing.