We all need to be loud every once in a while!

I had a cousin, Darla, and I'm not 100% sure how we were related, other than Darla's mom and my mom were related through their parents. Darla was the age of my second oldest sister, so 14-years my senior. To say that Darla was larger than life would be an understatement. I had not seen Darla in 40+ years and occasionally thought of her, wondering how she was.

You see Darla recently passed away. And another factor to this, not an important one but what made Darla who and how she was, was that she was mentally handicapped. Like how life is supposed to be, Darla outlived her parents, and I'm sure both her mom and dad worried about who would take care of her after their passing. Darla had an older sister and a brother who lived near her and they took care of her after her parents could no longer care for and then after they both passed.

But in all the details of Darla was one of her most notable traits, she made her presence known! Darla liked to stand out in a crowd. Plain and simple, Darla was LOUD!!

I was a skinny, little kid and Darla scared me. She was my first up close encounter with a mentally handicapped person. She had a heart of gold and knew what she liked!. But she always gravitated to me. I don't know if it was my size, or my red hair, but she LIKED me! And in short, as a kid, Darla scared me. She was extremely strong. She would grab my hand and squeeze-hard. She would sit right beside me and wanted to be my friend. As a shy child this was so uncomfortable for me. Unfortunately with Darla as my first encounter with a special needs person this has made me uncomfortable for life. I tried to be cordial and kind with Darla, but if anything it just made her get even closer and more in my space.

My mom explained AFTER my first encounter with Darla that she had had some kind off illness as a small child and ran an extremely high temp causing brain damage. Mom also explained that while her age was 14 years my senior, he mental capacity was some where around the age of a kindergarten through second grader-that I could understand as I think I was maybe a fourth grader when I met Darla.

I know Darla was a worry for her parents and family. She was a trusting soul and friendly to everyone. Darla never met a stranger and she liked to be heard. Have I mentioned she was loud?!

So while Darla lived out her years in schools, facilities and homes equipped with taking care of her, I know she also brought so much sunshine and life to her family.

As a parent I could not imagine what her parents went through, but they always included Darla and brought her along. I don't know squat about how to raise or deal with special needs children, but if Darla's parents were anything they were the epitome of how to raise such a child.

And I'm sure upon entering heaven Darla found her parents immediately and all of heaven heard and knew she had arrived. But most of all I'm sure it was a reunion of such happiness for all three of them, which makes my heart smile.

While I'm sure I was not the kind of friend or playmate that Darla wanted or hoped I'd be, besides her strength and volume what I remember of Darla was how happy she was. Maybe something I need to remember a little each day. To keep a little bit of the simple happiness and sunshine to life, and maybe be loud every once in a while.