My little man is a teen!
Today marks the 13th Birthday of my little man Denzel. Marcelina and I recalled those hours prior to and including his birth those years ago.
I remember them fairly well, though looking at the pictures you see below the feelings are tender and I remember the fear, the anxiety and the uncertainty of a new day with someone different. It was hard for me at first, Marcelina would not have had any problem if he was green and looked like Shrek, she would have loved him all the same.
His having Down Syndrome was hard to accept for me mainly- what would others think, what would others say?, and certainly over the years I have seen and heard many comments and actions which have caused me to be sad, hurt and angry, yet through it all I have come to love this boy with all my heart. I thank God every day for being able to be the father of this young man, he brings with him a special kind of warmth that radiates independent of his parents and touches the hearts of those who have a heart to feel and sense his wonderful spirit.
The teacher told us today that his school assembly sang him Happy Birthday and I almost sobbed think how special he would have felt, and I am honoured that they did that for him. He is such a simple boy, who is without guile or malice and who, even in his moods, is a very beautiful person.
I am certainly fraught with foible and weakness, yet this one thing I was a small co-creator in has given my life meaning and joy. I have done something right!
With denzels abilities, he is still very much a young child in a growing body, and the wiggles, the Hooley Dooleys and the many other videos he watches of his heroes, have given him a world of peace and great joy. This boy is in NO doubt that he is loved, and he is reminded of it every day and sometimes many times throughout the day! to which he always smiles and repeats the gesture back.
He is deaf totally in one ear, has a reduced hearing in the other, has had 26 admissions to hospital in his life and has had heart surgey, eye surgery to remove the cataracts at birth and to place inside his retina the contact lenses when he used to swallow them. At $200 a time we quickly could not allow it to continue. He has had nasal surgery, lungs and even had lumber punctures which inject needles right into the spinal chord. He has some on going health concerns and we have been told since he was young that he may not live 'til a late age, but we resolved not long after his birth to ensure that we would ove him every day he is with us, and even with the occasional frustration we do...still.
This is my personal tribute to a very significant part of my life, a person whom we know will not out live us, but who has brought light into lives thirsting for a change from the darkness or shade.
I will share a poem I wrote for Denzel that I submitted to an international poetry competition and was even picked up and read on a Sydney Radio competition for the station Mix 106.5 FM where I was asked to read it on air. Many people were touched and I am gratified, but it was written to highlight my feeling for our special boy. Not more special than other children, just special to us.
DENZEL
The cry of my firstborn
Like the warblings of doves from above
Tenderly tug at my heartstrings
With a sweetness I now know as love
He’s different from the others, I hear someone say
Confusion sets in at the Doctors dismay
I touch the hand of an innocent boy
Flesh of my flesh, soft like a toy
His eyelids open with a fixed wary gaze
His new found world around he surveys
My tear stained cheek, in awe at the joy
Of Denzel, Gods angel, whose my little boy
The world all around me takes on a new hue
The brightness, the future, now comes into view
I must prepare now to face a new day
So the gift I have sired can endure in some way
My reflections on the impact I have made on this earth
Have crystalised my feelings with Denzel’s birth
What future awaits him rests partly with me
Though I pray for a world that will let him be free
Craig Peihopa
May 1996
The very first pictures we ever had of denzel from a Polaroid instamatic land camera 600, thought it was an absolute marvel.
Denzel was in a humidicrib when born, and he literally touched end to end when he stretched, which was stark in contrast to the other tiny, tiny babies who were in them inside intensive care, where he spent almost his first 5 weeks of life, then was moved to special care ward.
First shot with eyes open!
Wondering what the heck was going on!
First time we ever held him fully after birth, which we were denied of holding owing to the health complications.
I love this shot of Denzel, so inquisitive, and I still see this look in his eyes. This was some months after he was born. He could not hold up his head for a very long time.
A lovely shot of us.
This was before he was blessed at church.
Denzel a few years ago
Denzel the Rockstar. Rick Brewster watch out!
Denzel with his admiring School teacher and helpers a couple of years ago.
I remember them fairly well, though looking at the pictures you see below the feelings are tender and I remember the fear, the anxiety and the uncertainty of a new day with someone different. It was hard for me at first, Marcelina would not have had any problem if he was green and looked like Shrek, she would have loved him all the same.
His having Down Syndrome was hard to accept for me mainly- what would others think, what would others say?, and certainly over the years I have seen and heard many comments and actions which have caused me to be sad, hurt and angry, yet through it all I have come to love this boy with all my heart. I thank God every day for being able to be the father of this young man, he brings with him a special kind of warmth that radiates independent of his parents and touches the hearts of those who have a heart to feel and sense his wonderful spirit.
The teacher told us today that his school assembly sang him Happy Birthday and I almost sobbed think how special he would have felt, and I am honoured that they did that for him. He is such a simple boy, who is without guile or malice and who, even in his moods, is a very beautiful person.
I am certainly fraught with foible and weakness, yet this one thing I was a small co-creator in has given my life meaning and joy. I have done something right!
With denzels abilities, he is still very much a young child in a growing body, and the wiggles, the Hooley Dooleys and the many other videos he watches of his heroes, have given him a world of peace and great joy. This boy is in NO doubt that he is loved, and he is reminded of it every day and sometimes many times throughout the day! to which he always smiles and repeats the gesture back.
He is deaf totally in one ear, has a reduced hearing in the other, has had 26 admissions to hospital in his life and has had heart surgey, eye surgery to remove the cataracts at birth and to place inside his retina the contact lenses when he used to swallow them. At $200 a time we quickly could not allow it to continue. He has had nasal surgery, lungs and even had lumber punctures which inject needles right into the spinal chord. He has some on going health concerns and we have been told since he was young that he may not live 'til a late age, but we resolved not long after his birth to ensure that we would ove him every day he is with us, and even with the occasional frustration we do...still.
This is my personal tribute to a very significant part of my life, a person whom we know will not out live us, but who has brought light into lives thirsting for a change from the darkness or shade.
I will share a poem I wrote for Denzel that I submitted to an international poetry competition and was even picked up and read on a Sydney Radio competition for the station Mix 106.5 FM where I was asked to read it on air. Many people were touched and I am gratified, but it was written to highlight my feeling for our special boy. Not more special than other children, just special to us.
DENZEL
The cry of my firstborn
Like the warblings of doves from above
Tenderly tug at my heartstrings
With a sweetness I now know as love
He’s different from the others, I hear someone say
Confusion sets in at the Doctors dismay
I touch the hand of an innocent boy
Flesh of my flesh, soft like a toy
His eyelids open with a fixed wary gaze
His new found world around he surveys
My tear stained cheek, in awe at the joy
Of Denzel, Gods angel, whose my little boy
The world all around me takes on a new hue
The brightness, the future, now comes into view
I must prepare now to face a new day
So the gift I have sired can endure in some way
My reflections on the impact I have made on this earth
Have crystalised my feelings with Denzel’s birth
What future awaits him rests partly with me
Though I pray for a world that will let him be free
Craig Peihopa
May 1996
The very first pictures we ever had of denzel from a Polaroid instamatic land camera 600, thought it was an absolute marvel.
Denzel was in a humidicrib when born, and he literally touched end to end when he stretched, which was stark in contrast to the other tiny, tiny babies who were in them inside intensive care, where he spent almost his first 5 weeks of life, then was moved to special care ward.
First shot with eyes open!
Wondering what the heck was going on!
First time we ever held him fully after birth, which we were denied of holding owing to the health complications.
I love this shot of Denzel, so inquisitive, and I still see this look in his eyes. This was some months after he was born. He could not hold up his head for a very long time.
A lovely shot of us.
This was before he was blessed at church.
Denzel a few years ago
Denzel the Rockstar. Rick Brewster watch out!
Denzel with his admiring School teacher and helpers a couple of years ago.
Comments
Craig, this is a lovely post. The feelings we have as parents are so very tender; I'm so glad you shared yours with us.
Denzel is a fine young man. You and Marcelina and Denzel are all blessed to have each other as family.