Big D :: Personal Narrative Disabilites Papers

Big D A couple weeks ago, exactly four days by and by Christmas, I woke up thinking about my uncle Dennis. I loved him very much, but I have never woken up thinking about him. aft(prenominal) a few minutes, I realized that three years ago, exactly four days after Christmas, was the day he died. My uncle Dennis was an unforgettable man. He had glisten blue eyes and a sweet smile. When he laughed everyone else in the room couldnt help but join him. Thats not what made him unforgettable, though. Dennis was tall, around 380 pounds, and anoxic he had brain damage. He never learned to cook, ride a bike, or properly operate an appliance. He required 24-hour a day care from the clipping he was born until the day he died at age 40. This is not an exaggeration. If Dennis was awake and no one was around to stop him, he consistently caused trouble. xl years ago, fetal heart monitors were not routinely used in the labor room. Today, a heart monitor aids in the detection of problems much(pre nominal) as a pinched umbilical cord, which what caused Denniss brain damage at birth. Because the pinched cord was not detected, a cesarean section was not performed, and Dennis entered the universe mentally retarded because not enough oxygen reached his brain during the birthing process. The small part of the world he entered was Milwaukee. My grandparents had a house which has since been torn cut and replaced by projects. In the early fifties about 60% of the residents were black. A large portion of the rest were immigrants. My grandparents were from northern Wisconsin. My grandfather was then working as a boilermaker engineer in a tannery downtown. In addition to staying with Dennis, my grandmother stayed at home with my Uncle Mike, 3 my mother, 2 and my Uncle Tom, 1. Four more children would soon follow. The youngest, Patrick, had Downs Syndrome. football team cousins lived just down the block. A house of prostitution was across the street. Saturday was laundry day. The three older children would eventually be hired as babysitters for Dennis. On Saturdays they would nourish an eye on Dennis and play in the backyard while my grandmother did the weeks wash. At the end of the day the three young nannies got to split a dime in the midst of them at the grocery store on the corner.