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I 've Written Before About My Younger Sister

Decent Essays
I’ve written before about my younger sister, Kathryn Mary, who was born on September 13, 1972. Within a couple of days of her birth, her doctors discovered that she had Down syndrome and a heart defect that was going to eventually need to be corrected with open heart surgery.
Unfortunately, Kathryn never got to a point where she had enough strength and stamina to withstand a surgery. She was so weak that she was never able to turn herself over or crawl on the floor. She gained very little weight during the 13 months that she was with us. She died on October19, 1973.
Kathryn was with us for only one Christmas, and there is only one thing that I remember about that day. My grandfather, Tom Williams, came over to our house and when he saw my mom holding Kathryn, he said in a loud voice, “She’s the best Christmas present you could ever ask for. You should wrap a red bow around her and forget about all the other presents.”
Shortly after the birth of our little Christmas present, one of her doctors told my parents that children who are born with Down syndrome have a great love of and appreciation for music. The doctor encouraged my parents to play music for Kathryn as often as possible. My mom did what the doctor told her to do and played soothing music as often as possible, especially when she was trying to calm Kathryn down or put her to sleep.
Although it’s been more than 40 years since Kathryn died and went to heaven, I still think of her when I consider the impact that music
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