Daniel
First published in the Summerset Review, Spring 2012
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Every once in a while I caught a glimpse of what a real brother could be. As I grew older and began to
understand that many of Danny's problems resulted from his FAS disorder, I wondered what this brother
of mine would have been like without his brain damage—what it would feel like to have a "normal"
brother—one that I could look up to and learn from rather than resent. My mind formed big questions. I
had been taught that God was good and believed it. Yet how could he allow Danny to be born this way? Why
did I have to be the younger sister to someone like Danny? And why, why did I have to try to love him, even
though much of the time I felt I hated him?