Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Pardon me?

It seems like a joke, and a cruel one at that.  The second son of two lawyers is considered speech delayed.  Severe enough that he qualifies for government funding for therapy. That unsettling doubt was planted a year ago perhaps, but between an eloquent and loquacious older brother, and a imminent arrival of a little sister, his parents let it slide. They took away his soother and hoped for the best. They told themselves that children are different and they swore they would never compare them unfairly. They chalked it up to him having a hard time adjusting to the new baby. They pray that they had not failed so spectacularly because they chose to have careers. There is always enough blame to go around, and they struggle with how much they put on themselves, and how much they should actually believe in the conclusions of a 60 minutes assessment. The older brother is already dismissively calling it all gibberish. How will this further the already strained relationship as of late between the brothers?  As a parent you worry about a million things, and it turns out you didn't worry enough.