25 April
Namnsdag Marcus, Mark

Today is the namnsdag of my brother. He arrived in the world three years ahead of me and several weeks ahead of a body that was ready to receive him. In 1949 this premature entry had consequences, which today technology has mostly eliminated. Shortly after birth he suffered an apnea, that is he stopped breathing. He was resuscitated but damage was done. He has lived his life with Cerebral Palsy. Simple tasks and everyday living are anything but simple, swallowing for example is sometimes very difficult.

When I arrived babyhood was short, by three I was second mom helping Mark remove leg braces and clothes after the inevitable “accident” which required clean-up. A very different life for all of us and yet there were amazing rewards. My brother is also deaf. He has taught me much about hearing, seeing, sensing beyond the normal. From him I have learned to be more patient. He has an exceptional IQ yet spent early years in classes with groups of very disabled children of all natures. This childhood community was as diverse as one can imagine spanning April who was in a persistent vegetative state to Mark and a full gamut between. Communication, connecting, I assure you can happen in a multitude of ways.

Mark went on to graduate from Gallaudet College for the Deaf in Washington DC. He was an independent guy flying around the US lobbying for Americans with Disabilities, a real political activist. Several times his Cerebral Palsy took a downturn but between us and homeopathy he always managed to regain lost ground.

Until, two years ago when we were plunged back into the drama of the early days.

My mother and I again put our shoulders together and tried our best to give good care, hoping for the crisis to pass. Unfortunately, age catches us all and our best efforts did not take us where we intended. Mark slipped from being ambulatory to triplegic (loss of legs and one arm) very quickly.

Sometimes life feels like you are jumping from floating log to floating log, they only work well as a raft when tethered together. We found a wonderful assisted living center for the Deaf in Oregon. Mark now resides there. It has been a time of surgeries and sustained effort. We are all entering a new pattern and learning how to appreciate what we still have.

For the astrologers among us. Mark was born in the final moments of Capricorn and is experiencing his Saturn return. While Saturn is rolling back and forth it is catching my SN conjunct my descendant on one side and will slide over my moon/vertex (7th) on the other….pretty much says it all.

Happy Namnsdag Mark, you are beloved, wishing you a smoother path and a shiny new motorized wheelchair to match you.