Sunshine In The Small Things: Growing up with Sam has made me who I am today.

Hello All!
I hope that today has been a good day for you, one that's been filled with encouragement and thankfulness! I know it has been for me. My sunshine today has been that God has been pointing me in a direction I never thought about going before even this summer, although the more I talk to friends and family that know me well, the more I hear I should take another major after I complete the one I am currently completing. The one I keep hearing references to that I should take up is Social Work. I have recently been pretty interested in Social Work, however it will take quite a long time to get a degree as the major is 150 credits. YIKES! But I know I can do it, I am up for the challenge to continue to change people's lives for the better, educate whomever I can on the importance of individuals that have developmental disabilities and/or mental health, why they should be cared for just as anyone else and accepted as if they were you or I.

I think that God is changing my career path to really peruse this with all my heart, and help others along the way. I believe that this all started back when I was 5. I met a great boy, one of my neighbors, who became like a brother to me. His name is Sam. Sam has different developmental disabilities, not because he chose to, not because he wanted to, but because God made Sam the way he is. When Sam's mom was pregnant with Sam, the doctors said he would be a healthy baby boy. During her pregnancy, Sam's biological father, kicked his mom in the stomach many many times, causing Sam to be born with limited hearing, needing glasses, and a developmental disability, as well as stuttering; his brain development limited him to the age of 7 due to the abuse his mother endured throughout the pregnancy. But Sam is not broken, he is not hurting, he doesn't see any of his limitations as problems or things that hinder him from being himself. I honestly don't think he even realizes that he has any of those issues as he lives his life with zeal and such enthusiasm you wouldn't be able to see any disappointment in his life. He calls me daily, he leaves me messages of songs, prayers, encouragement, a run down of his day, and he always ends it by saying "Thank you for letting me be your brother Sam". It is such an encouragement when I have a rough day, or need just a little cheering up to listen to those messages.

I am so grateful to have parents who have taught my brothers and sisters not to discriminate but to stand up for Sam if anyone treated him wrongly. My parents did everything they could to make Sam feel apart of our family. My dad took him out for Dairy Queen all the time, my mom would bake cookies, and we called Sam the Cookie Monster because he would always eat all the cookies. He is always up for a new adventure, and willing to try anything. He loves spending time with our family as much as we like spending time with him. He was always at every birthday of ours, and came over almost daily. Here are some pictures of us growing up:

One of the many birthday parties that he came to.

Sam was waiting for the cookies to be done.. always telling us stories.

In our neighborhood we had 3 baseball fields, there was constant games of kickball, baseball, and other fun games. Im sure Sam was the pitcher here as he always enjoyed being the pitcher.

He has come to Fargo to visit me for a weekend, and right now he is planning another trip up here this spring. He enjoys watching my brothers play their sports, plays video games with them and decorates cookies with us girls. He is always coloring us another picture, making us crafts, he even has made me a large picture frame and a canvas art piece that is proudly hung in my apartment. Here are some pictures of when he came to Fargo:

Sam driving a race car at Scheels, he has always been a huge Racing fan, to be able to drive a stimulated ride and be able to sit in a real sized race car was a dream come true for him.

Sam and his final results from the race car.

Sam loved the big bear that seemed to look like he was about to eat us.

Sam's sweet painting of the bear.

We both went to change into our Pj's since it was time for bed and I came out to make sure he was settled in and fine on the hyde bed and noticed we were literally matching, not even meaning to. Clearly we are like family.

Sam went snake hunting with the Minion boys and found many gardener snakes, I think 8 in all.

Sam tried many times to get it as close to my face as possible. What a jokester.

Another thing Sam made for me. A picture frame with us kids minus Britt from when we were at his Birthday party earlier that year.

And a picture on his last day in Fargo.

Sam has asked me to be his date on Valentines Day every year now for the past 5 years. Every year, even if I am unable to make it down there for that day due to work, or what-not he sends me something in the mail. He took me out one year to Noodles and Company to grab lunch, than he wanted to get coffee since he knew I liked that, of course he wanted to walk around Gander Mountain like any man does, than we topped it off with Dairy Queen, which is his favorite of course. It was a fun afternoon and one that he reminds me of quite often. Here are some of the pictures from that great day:

At lunch.

A heart ring Sam gave to me. It was so sweet of him.

His favorite hunting store.

Ice Cream and Fries.. not much better

If you have any desire and even if you don't I encourage you to volunteer even an hour a month or whatever your schedule will allow to take someone who has a developmental disability or mental health and really get to know them as a person, and not as a label. Take them to a baseball game, out to eat, go on a walk through a park and get to know them as a person and not their disability. They want to be cared for just like any of us do, they want to have friends and family that actually want to THEM and not care what others think about them. They want to be loved, and enjoyed by others for who they are and not because they have a disability. Because if you think about it we all have room to grow, we all have room to improve, we all have things we aren't good at or things that we could be better at. So next time you see someone in the community or wherever that has a developmental disability or mental health, don't be quick to judge, don't automatically think that they can't do anything and they are us useless, because in all honestly the majority of them have jobs in the community that many of you wouldn't do yourself, not just scrubbing toilets every day but dealing with customers who discriminate towards them because of what they look like or are a little slower. BE NICE and remember the golden rule, TREAT OTHERS(doesn't matter their race, gender, religion, disability, whatever else) THE SAME WAY YOU WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED. I can guarantee, that if you spend even an hour with someone that may have a developmental disability or has mental disability that your world will change, you will feel more thankful, you will see the world in a different way, and you will feel honored to spend time with them. I feel like I can't give of myself enough, because those who I work with and volunteer my time with sure has made me feel like I do so little for how much joy and encouragement I receive. I feel as though, sometimes I am more happier hanging out with those that have a developmental disability than those who don't, simply because those that do, don't see their disability as a disability but they see themselves as them, and they are willing to befriend you, trust you, and want to hang out with you, because they accept you for you and not for what you may or may not look, act or be like. They are some of the most positive, outgoing, uplifting, and hilarious people I know. That's why I love what I do. I am not saying that everyday they always have great days and they are always the most positive, because they have their days just like the rest of us where we don't want to be around others, but I can guarantee that they are happier more days than you think. They enjoy life probably more than some people do, simply because they look at the good and not always thinking about the bad.