My Son DiDn’t Speak For Years-Until His Sister Sang This One Song\n
We\u2019d waited so long to hear him say anything.\n
Luca was born with Down syndrome, and while he was the brightest light in our house, speech had been one of our biggest hurdles. We tried everything\u2014therapy, sign language, flashcards, even puppets. Nothing stuck. By the time he was three, we were used to the quiet, the hums, the claps, and his sweet little giggle. But no words.\n
His big sister, Maris, never gave up on him. She\u2019s six going on thirty, always talking to him like he\u2019s just another kid at school. Reading him books, dragging him into her pretend games, even when he just blinked at her or clapped his hands. Lately, she\u2019s been obsessed with this one Disney song\u2014\u201dYou\u2019ve Got a Friend in Me.\u201d She sings it constantly, like it\u2019s her personal anthem.\n
So last Tuesday, after dinner, she climbs onto the couch with Luca and starts singing it again, loud and dramatic. I was in the kitchen, half-listening while drying dishes.\n
And then I heard it.\n
A tiny, raspy voice, not hers.\n
I froze.\n
She stopped singing.\n
And then I heard it again.\n
\u201cFren.\u201d\n
I dropped the towel.\n
Maris looked at me, her eyes huge, and she said, \u201cMom. He said friend.\u201d\n
He looked so proud of himself. He clapped and leaned into her, giggling like he\u2019d just pulled off the biggest magic trick in the world.\n
I didn\u2019t even grab my phone. I just stood there crying like a total mess, dish soap still on my hands.\n
We\u2019ve been trying to get him to say it again ever since. And yesterday, something happened when we were FaceTiming my mom.\n
My mom, who everyone calls Nana Bea, lives a few states away. She\u2019s one of those unstoppable grandmas who always seems to have a fresh batch of cookies or a craft project waiting, even if it\u2019s just virtually these days. We FaceTime every weekend so she can see the kids, especially Luca. She\u2019s been our biggest supporter through all of his therapies and has never once stopped believing in his potential.\n
Yesterday, while we were on our usual call, Maris decided to sing that same Disney tune again. She\u2019s got her toy microphone, trying to be all theatrical, spinning around in front of the phone propped up on the table. Luca was right beside her, slapping his hands on the rug in excitement. Nana Bea was watching, eyes sparkling through the screen. She sang along a little, but mostly, she just wanted to see Luca\u2019s reaction.\n
Then Maris said, \u201cMom! Turn it off for a second.\u201d By \u201cit,\u201d she meant the karaoke version of the song playing softly on my husband Erik\u2019s phone. She insisted she could sing better a cappella. Erik, smiling in that proud-dad way, paused the track. Maris cleared her throat dramatically.\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got a friend in me,\u201d she sang, in her best \u201clook at me, I\u2019m a superstar\u201d voice.\n
And suddenly, there it was again: that tiny, raspy echo that made every hair on my arms stand up. Luca whispered, \u201cFren,\u201d just like before. Then he tried adding a new sound, something like \u201cMee.\u201d\n
He couldn\u2019t get \u201cme\u201d perfectly, but we all lost it. I squealed so loud the phone tumbled off its prop, and the screen went flat on the table, giving us a nice view of the ceiling fan. My mom was shouting, \u201cI heard that! I heard it!\u201d from somewhere in the background. Maris and I threw our arms around Luca, who was clapping like he had just solved the biggest puzzle in history.\n
For the rest of the day, we tried coaxing him to say \u201cfriend in me,\u201d or even \u201cfriend.\u201d But you know toddlers\u2014especially one with Down syndrome\u2014the more you push, the less they cooperate. He just giggled and made faces, which was adorable but also a test of patience. Later that night, though, we got an even bigger surprise.\n
After Luca went to bed, Maris came into my room. She had this look on her face I\u2019d never seen before\u2014kind of worried, kind of excited. She said, \u201cMom, do you think Luca might talk more tomorrow?\u201d That question hit me right in the heart. Maris lives for these moments with her brother, but I know she also wonders why it\u2019s taking him so long to do things that come easily to other kids. I sat her down on the bed and said, \u201cSweetheart, even if it takes Luca a little longer, we celebrate every word, every sound. It might happen tomorrow, or it might happen next week. But he will get there.\u201d\n
She smiled, and in her typical big-sister way, said, \u201cI\u2019ll just keep singing until he does.\u201d She kissed my cheek and ran back to her room. That girl is unstoppable.\n
The next morning, we had what I like to call an \u201coff\u201d day. Luca was cranky because he didn\u2019t sleep well; the neighbors\u2019 dog barked half the night. Erik had some work emergency, so he was on his laptop, phone pinned between ear and shoulder, muttering something about spreadsheets and deadlines. Maris had spilled chocolate milk on her favorite shirt and was in a huff about it. No one was really in the mood for a sing-along.\n
But mid-morning, I heard Luca let out this frustrated whine from the living room. Sometimes, when he can\u2019t communicate what he wants, he just sort of wails, and we have to guess. Is he hungry? Tired? Bored? This time, I realized he was pointing to the hall closet where we keep his snacks and board books. I asked, \u201cLuca, do you want something?\u201d He pointed, let out another whine, and then\u2026I kid you not\u2026he looked straight at me and said, \u201cGah.\u201d Now, that might sound like nothing to most people, but for us, it was something new. It was definitely a new sound that seemed more intentional. I grabbed a book from the closet\u2014his favorite about farm animals\u2014and brought it over.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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