Let me tell you about my son.

Kevin is my oldest. He'll be 12 in a few short weeks (!!). He is such a good big brother to all his siblings - not that they don't fight and bicker and get on each other's nerves, but for the most part Kevin, despite the age difference between him and his younger sibs (he's 5 1/2 years older than Joey, the next oldest), is very tolerant, loving and patient.

With Finn, he's especially loving and almost mother-hennish. It could be that he feels extra protective because he knows his brother has Ds, he has some inkling of what that means, and he was deeply affected by Finn's time in the NICU. So I'm sure that has something to do with it. But the truth is, he's been that way with each new baby that has been born into our family.

That said, he has taken a special interest in the fact that Finn has Down syndrome. He proudly wore a Ds awareness bracelet to school (until he lost it). He has an International Studies class in which the students are required to find a news article each week with international subject matter, and then summarize the article and discuss its implications. Twice now he has presented articles dealing with Down syndrome, which has sparked discussion in his class about Down syndrome. To me, this is an amazing thing. A whole group of kids that might view people's differences with an open mind and an open heart as they continue on through life, because maybe these discussions instigated by Kevin will stay with them.

Kevin dreams of being a writer, a published author some day. Right now he wants to write a story about a kid with Ds, and he's even begun researching Ds - on his own! - in order to be able to create a realistic character for his story.

My heart runneth over.