Blessings in Disguise.

Last weekend was chaos!  Friday was Zach's first Christmas concert ever, and he did so great despite his special ed teacher having reservations.  Although he faced my camcorder the whole time, instead of his teacher, he stayed in place and sang almost every word, and smiled.  I was as proud as any parent could be!  When it was done, I got to bring him home early and fuss over him for a few hours before picking up his brother.  When we were home, the boys played so well together, taking turns, using manners.  At points, Israel was being so helpful and polite to Zach, that I felt I got a glimpse at what it would be like to raise two neurotypical children, and how helpful a seven year old would be to his younger brother.  I was in great spirits. 
Then, just as I was about to announce it was time for "movie time", which is quiet, bedroom time in our house, I heard Israel crying in a horrifying manner.  I could see his misshapen, broken arm under his shirt and when I instructed him to pull up his sleeve, what I saw had me struggling to keep from passing out.  His arm, from elbow to fingers formed an "S" shape, fingers and wrist dislocated, forearm broken and sticking out at strange angles.  Luckily, we live in nursing/medicine-based city, and several great hospitals are just minutes away.  We all loaded in the car and got him to the ER, where he was whisked into a room immediately, given a fluffy bear to settle him, and taken care of like a prince.  The ER doc was able to get his wrist and fingers back into place, but the poor guy had to wait 16 hours before undergoing his procedure to get the bones back in place and have a cast.  The whole time, Israel was quiet and cooperative, and so very brave.  He didn't ask for more Morphine than he needed, and didn't complain.  He went through the procedure and came out of the anesthesia smiling and making jokes, able to drink and eat right away.  I can't say that he hasn't been frustrated that he is having to stay inside for recess, and can't climb in the snow banks like his classmates, but all in all, he is handling it very well, and even insists on trying to do things on his own.  He is very resilliant; can even write pretty good with his left hand.
Zach had a really tough time with the whole thing.  He was making a line of trucks in their bedroom and Israel tripped on a truck and caught himself funny on the mattress, that's how it happened.  When I went to get Zach ready for the hospital, he asked if Israel hurt himself because of the trucks and I said I wasn't sure, but Zach immediately started crying about it.  Then he saw Israel's arm and cried and cried and cried.  At the hospital, he was telling each passerby what happened, most of the time with his head down in shame, sometimes with tears.  It took both my husband and I to keep the situation sane, one comforting Israel and talking to the medical staff, one to confort Zach and reassure him that it was just an accident and nobody's fault. 
Despite Israel being frustrated and Zach feeling guilty, I have seen some really sweet things going on between the two of them.  Zach has been being quite helpful to Israel, telling him to be careful when he is walking on snow or running, offering to help him maneuver.  And last night, when Israel reminded me that I forgot to give him an extra pillow to prop up his cast, Zach took his own pillow off his bed to give to Israel.  When Israel asked why Zach did that, I looked down at him and said, "Because Zach loves you very much."  Israel looked at me with the biggest eyes ever, and looked like he was going to cry; I could tell he was touched by that.
So, even though there will still always be fights and competition for attention, this bad event actually brought us all a little closer.  Sometimes blessings come in disguise.