The Best Gifts - by Matt Coleman

Dan has always been a bigger brother to me. This was a difficult and time consuming lesson for me to learn when I was younger–when I realized that Dan WAS in fact different from most people. But thankfully, he was understanding and patient in his teachings. While growing up, I chose to omit the fact that my brother had Down Syndrome when talking with my friends. I thought of it as an embarrassment. This could not have been more clear when Dan visited me at my high school once and I was reluctant to stay close to him. My mother asked me what the matter was, and I replied as a typical teenage would with something like “Nothing! Leave me alone.”

But slowly, I began to realize that Dan’s gifts were also not those of a typical older brother. Those of you who might know him will know Dan isn’t shy to say “Hi” to strangers and meet new people. At first, I thought this was Dan just being ignorant and stupid, but I realized that no, this was just his personality. If Dan was unashamed of meeting complete strangers, how was it that I could be scared to even speak of him to my friends? Clearly he was a bigger man than I, and I had much to learn from him.

Dan has always been the first person to wish me a Happy Birthday, the first person to welcome me home at the airport from a long trip. His caring and affection for the people around him knows no bounds, and he has been a shining example to learn from. I could go on about the things I have learned from my older brother, but I would rather end by saying that I have learned that the best gifts come from the least expected locations.