![]() Good-natured sibling rivalry was rampant at our home. They poured all their spare time and efforts into this while we kids grew up together, oblivious to the extraordinary circumstances of Alecia’s disability and my parents’ efforts to give her (and us) the best life possible.ĭay to day, growing up with Alecia seemed rather normal to me when compared to other families. All of us kids benefitted from that daily motherly presence, especially Alecia who had special needs.ĭespite our family being a blue-collar family, albeit a master in the trade, my parents were no less undaunted to learn as much about my sister’s disease and get her the most advanced medical and social help available to her to ensure her quality of life. I only realized later, as an adult, what an awesome sacrifice that was. ![]() My parents felt it important she be home to raise all of us. My mother was a stay-at-home even while a changing economy started to make that difficult. The family business in our home town of Orillia is still going today in its fourth generation. My father was and is a master tradesman in drywall. My youngest sister, Emily, joined soon after Jessica. My sister Alecia came four years later and then Jessica, eight years after me. My parents had us young - myself being first born while they were in their teens. We grew in a very loving, supportive family. ![]() Oh sure, I knew she was ‘sick’ - that she had a rare degenerative disease that required many visits to doctors and specialists, and more than one trip to the famous-to-me SickKids Hospital - but day to day, she was just my little sister, Alecia. Growing up with my sister Alecia, I had little idea she was different than anybody else.
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