Reading broken_dreamer's journal

At the risk of sounding shallow, I do not miss my family, except for one member: my younger brother. I get homesick every now and then, but I really only miss him. Of every person I've ever known, he knows and understands me the best. Ironic, isn't it? That a person who cannot even speak can do that?

Him and I share an incredible bond, different than any other. It's really wonderful.

It also amazes me that although it seems we are the ones taking care of him and teaching him new things, he is taking care of and teaching all of us even better things.

It's so strange... he can look right through me. He can look past the eyes and into my heart and soul and read them like a book. It's almost like we share them.

So many people think that because he cannot speak, and because he sometimes will not do what is asked of him, he is mentally retarded. But they could not be farther from the truth. He is incredibly intelligent, and like every person, will not perform if the activity presented does not interest or challenge him.

His teachers are working on getting him a computer that will speak for him. He can select the words to make sentences and it will speak. I hope that everything works out. As much as I understand him, I do not always know what he is thinking. I've always wondered.

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.