Angelman Today November / December edition 2013 | Page 13

Words
Of
Wisdom

Words Of Wisdom
Parent Shared Experience

Dads and Dudes with Angels:
By Charles De Broin, from Montreal Quebec
Do we dads have it easy, you say.
That romantic night turns into a nine month wait for a
little miracle of life.
Mom suddenly takes over and knows what to do,
almost by instinct, or is it the eighteen girlfriends and
her mom that make it all dizzily work.
No sleep, no more calm evenings to watch the game
on t.v. but all this is so much fun.
They grow so fast and suddenly you realize
something is wrong.
Mother panics, dad comforts her to no avail.
Doctors spin to find what it is that makes an otherwise
healthy baby not progress as the growth curve
indicates.
“Give it a while, children grow at varying rates”, the
good doctor says.
Unsatisfied, mom turns to every avenue and is told
that a genetic test might pinpoint the culprit that is
making our baby so different than her sister Helen’s
baby.
The test is done and Angelman Syndrome is defined
as the source of our baby’s problem.
The questions begin… “Will he talk, will he walk, that
dream of him being a lawyer is still alive isn’t it, will he
be able to play baseball or soccer?????” Mom is
more rational… “It doesn’t matter, I will love him no
matter what, just make those damned seizure stop
doctor, please!!!”.
The fear give way to advocacy, mom is a spoke-person
for equal rights of the disabled in the school, the
community and rattles parent teacher groups for

change in a system cold and oblivious to the less
fortunate. Dad starts a foundation for latter years and
reluctantly accepts the defeat of not having the
brightest and strongest boy on the block.
Before either of them know it their son is over 30 and
both mom and dad realize that the dream of having a
child in their lives forever, has come true
He now lives in a group home, but visits regularly at
home and yes, mom and dad have a tag team
arrangement when their son still wakes up at 3:00
a.m. ready to start his day. They still visit the farm to
see his favorite horse and in the summer visit their little
country place where he can stare into a campfire and
giggle as mom and dad sing campfire song like when
he was a child.
And this summer’s holiday spent with mom and dad,
both tired and sleep deprived after a few short nights.
Both looking at each other and speaking of enjoying
that unconditional love… that hug at bed-time that
speaks so much of thanks and recognition.