Someone I Love

Someone I Love

Someone I love relies on me in ways you will
never understand.
Someone I love endures pain and challenges that break
my heart and renew my spirit at the same time.
Someone I love is unable to advocate for themselves
for things that most of us take for granted.
Someone I love will never have the opportunities
that every child should have.
Someone I love will need unconditional love and support after
I am gone, this frightens me to the core.
Someone I love encounters pity, stereotyping responses,
and prejudice at every turn, because they look,
act, and/or learn differently than others.
Someone I love has needs that require me to
allow "outsiders" to have power and input in areas
that should be mine alone to meet.
Someone I love will continue to look to me
for everything in life long after other children are able to
assume a place as part of the world.
Someone I love has needs that require more
time and energy than I have to give.
Someone I love has needs that mean I am not
able to meet basic needs of my own.
Someone I love has needs that have become the driving
force behind major decisions my family makes.
Someone I love has changed me in ways I will never
be able to describe.
Someone I love has taught me about love and about
the really important things in life...
And still others don't understand what it is to be
me, they aren't living in my skin.
~Lori Hickman~