Best Friends Forever

when Ciarra was four, a neighbor stopped down to see Jim, bringing with him the granddaughter he and his wife were raising. She was a wild child, scrappy and stout, loud and sometimes incredibly mouthy.





We watched as he guided her, he has a voice like sandpaper, roguh and choppy, but gentle and sweet with this little girl. How he loved her was so obvious. To this day, 6 years later, he calls her "the Baby".

Ciarra is "The Baby" too, and he has come to adore her almost as much as he does his own. It is funny to watch this hard, worn man love these girls, he dotes on them, spoils them rotten. Last Christmas, he helped Jade design and build an end table that looked like a reindeer, they cut it out, sanded it till it was butter smooth, then painted and trimmed it. It was a beautiful thing, and all the more so for the hours of love and companionship they put into it.
As Jade has grown, she has started to settle down a bit. Visits arent always drama anymore, the girls have slipped into an easy pattern. Their friendship has grown as they have, 6 years of dressup and arguing, 6 years of illnesses and best friend bracelets. 6 years of holding hands on long walks, arts and crafts and glue all over the carpet. 6 years of knowing someone will be holding a spot for you on the bus.
It has not always been easy to let them be, there have certainly been issues and struggles, and I am sure there always will be.



I used to wonder if they would outgrow one another, now I see...best friends forever dont outgrow one another. Thier friendship is so rock solid, it is a beautiful thing to see. In the world of Down syndrome, we worry so much about relationships and friendships, will our kids know that kind of love.

I have been so blessed to see that the answer is yes. It is not without a lot of work. Sometimes I want to send them both to their respective rooms and not let them play together for awhile. Sometimes Jade's grandmother thinks the same way.


But for all of us, in both families, there is a respect for this thing they have created between them, arguments and all. It is a thing of beauty, it is a thing of fragility sometimes, but it is also a thing of terrific strength for both of them. How blessed they are, and how blessed we are to know that for both of our girls, Best Friends Forever is everything it is cracked up to be.