My Hero-My Brother In the novel, Snow Falling In Spring, a memoir by Moying Li, Moying has a hero that has impacted her life a great amount. Moying's hero was her grandmother, my hero is my brother, Austin. He is just 16 years old and has probably gone through more stuff then I can even begin to name. Austin suffers from RTS, otherwise known as Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome. He is unable to talk, walk, or even eat, but he is one of the strongest people that I know. Without him in my life, I wouldn't be who I am today. He is only a teenager and hasn't and won't ever have the chance to live the life as a normal teenager. Austin's brain isn't the same as ours, meaning he doesn't know the things or cant process the things that I can. He doesn't know what a "normal" teenager should be like and I don't know what it would be like to be a teenager suffering from RTS. Even if Austin doesnt know what he is missing out on, I know what kind of things he is missing out on and sometimes I wish I could change that, but I can't. Despite our differences, Austin and I are still alike. We look alike in ways and act alike in others. Austin has gone through a lot of surgeries and has experienced a lot of life or death procedures. Although these things haven't happened to me, I still can relate to them. There have been situation that I have come across where I feel like its the end and nothing will get better, but if I fight through it everything will work out eventually. Sometimes i forget how easy my life is, until i look at Austin. When i see his scars and know everything that he has gone through I realize that the fight for life is never over, even if you cant comprehend that on a teenage level. He may not be able to tell me how he feels or tell me how hard everything is, but I can see in his actions that you can overcome anything. When he smiles at me i feel like everything will be okay and that God is always on my side.
Throughout my life, Austin has taught me to always be appreciative of the life that I live. When he smiles and laughs even after everything he has been through, it reminds me of this quote, "Remember happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think." This quote emphasizes true happiness and it reminds me to not forget that you can go through set backs, you can be hurt, you can be any kind of person, but if you can think good and happy thoughts, then you can bring the happiness to yourself. If you can prove to others that an open and loving mind can bring you to good terms with yourself, God, and life in general, that you can and will be satisfied with the happiness that you have brought into your own life. I believe that Austin brings happiness to his own life, and he encourages me to do the same. I don't know exactly what he thinks about, but he can show through his actions that he is a happy person and that through all the pain and suffer, that if you take a step back and realize you can overcome anything, you can and will be a happy person just like Austin. As you can tell, I can't interview Austin about the struggles he has overcome or is in the process of overcoming, but I can tell in his actions that anything you face in life, you can overcome it. Austin is my hero and I bet he is other people's hero as well. His mind may not be functioning correctly, but his high spirits never let me down to show how great of a person he is. This is why my brother, Austin, is my hero. This is Austin on the morning of his sixteenth birthday!
Austin is blessed to have another birthday.
Reed, Courtney. "Austin." 2011. PNG file. This is one of my favorite songs that reminds me of my brother, Austin. The song is about never giving up, no matter how hard things get, that everything will be okay.Don't Give Up by Shawn McDonald
This is a small collage of pictures of my brother. Two of which he was in the hospital after one of his many surgeries, another where he was in a half-body cast, and the other two just him hanging out!
Pictures of my brother, Austin
Reed, Courtney. "My Brother-Austin." 2011. PNG file.
My Hero-My Brother
In the novel, Snow Falling In Spring, a memoir by Moying Li, Moying has a hero that has impacted her life a great amount. Moying's hero was her grandmother, my hero is my brother, Austin. He is just 16 years old and has probably gone through more stuff then I can even begin to name. Austin suffers from RTS, otherwise known as Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome. He is unable to talk, walk, or even eat, but he is one of the strongest people that I know. Without him in my life, I wouldn't be who I am today. He is only a teenager and hasn't and won't ever have the chance to live the life as a normal teenager. Austin's brain isn't the same as ours, meaning he doesn't know the things or cant process the things that I can. He doesn't know what a "normal" teenager should be like and I don't know what it would be like to be a teenager suffering from RTS. Even if Austin doesnt know what he is missing out on, I know what kind of things he is missing out on and sometimes I wish I could change that, but I can't.
Despite our differences, Austin and I are still alike. We look alike in ways and act alike in others. Austin has gone through a lot of surgeries and has experienced a lot of life or death procedures. Although these things haven't happened to me, I still can relate to them. There have been situation that I have come across where I feel like its the end and nothing will get better, but if I fight through it everything will work out eventually. Sometimes i forget how easy my life is, until i look at Austin. When i see his scars and know everything that he has gone through I realize that the fight for life is never over, even if you cant comprehend that on a teenage level. He may not be able to tell me how he feels or tell me how hard everything is, but I can see in his actions that you can overcome anything. When he smiles at me i feel like everything will be okay and that God is always on my side.
Throughout my life, Austin has taught me to always be appreciative of the life that I live. When he smiles and laughs even after everything he has been through, it reminds me of this quote, "Remember happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think." This quote emphasizes true happiness and it reminds me to not forget that you can go through set backs, you can be hurt, you can be any kind of person, but if you can think good and happy thoughts, then you can bring the happiness to yourself. If you can prove to others that an open and loving mind can bring you to good terms with yourself, God, and life in general, that you can and will be satisfied with the happiness that you have brought into your own life. I believe that Austin brings happiness to his own life, and he encourages me to do the same. I don't know exactly what he thinks about, but he can show through his actions that he is a happy person and that through all the pain and suffer, that if you take a step back and realize you can overcome anything, you can and will be a happy person just like Austin.
As you can tell, I can't interview Austin about the struggles he has overcome or is in the process of overcoming, but I can tell in his actions that anything you face in life, you can overcome it. Austin is my hero and I bet he is other people's hero as well. His mind may not be functioning correctly, but his high spirits never let me down to show how great of a person he is. This is why my brother, Austin, is my hero.
This is Austin on the morning of his sixteenth birthday!
Reed, Courtney. "Austin." 2011. PNG file.
This is one of my favorite songs that reminds me of my brother, Austin. The song is about never giving up, no matter how hard things get, that everything will be okay.Don't Give Up by Shawn McDonald
This is a small collage of pictures of my brother. Two of which he was in the hospital after one of his many surgeries, another where he was in a half-body cast, and the other two just him hanging out!