My best friend married my younger sister, who has Down syndrome.<\/p>\n
Three years later, she nearly died while delivering their twins.<\/p>\n
As doctors fought to save her, Ben pulled me into an empty hospital corridor and whispered, \u201cIt\u2019s time you understood why I really married Rosie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he handed me a contract bearing my parents\u2019 signatures<\/p>\n
What I read made me scream.<\/p>\n
I was seven years old when I first understood that the world might punish my sister simply for being different.<\/p>\n
Rosie was six, only a year younger than me.<\/p>\n
She had soft brown curls, a laugh that filled every room, and a face that brightened whenever someone said her name kindly.<\/p>\n
Not everyone did.<\/p>\n
Children pointed at her.<\/p>\n
They copied the way she spoke.<\/p>\n
They laughed when she struggled to keep up during games.<\/p>\n
Whenever I saw tears forming in her eyes, I stepped in front of her like a tiny shield, my fists clenched at my sides.<\/p>\n
Ben was the only other child who never hesitated.<\/p>\n
He had been my best friend since kindergarten.<\/p>\n
Whenever teams were chosen during recess, Ben picked Rosie before anyone could leave her standing alone.<\/p>\n
When she dropped her lunch tray in second grade and half the cafeteria laughed, he sat on the floor beside her and ate his sandwich there.<\/p>\n
\u201cRosie, you\u2019ll always have Ben and me,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n
I repeated it so often that she eventually believed it.<\/p>\n
In fourth grade, Ben crouched in front of her on the playground and made a promise I never forgot.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we\u2019re older, I\u2019m taking you to prom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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