Louis, A Boy With Disabilities Who “Teaches Us To Love”
A mother want to share her son’s inspiring story of endurance and love.
Your little Louis is afflicted with an uncommon condition. In early 2016, the doctor told Florence and her husband that one of his chromosomes was poorly built, and he had the most severe kind of cognitive impairment. For this French family residing in the Netherlands, it was thunderbolt out of nowhere.
Louis, the youngest of his siblings, was nine months old at the time. Florence had been concerned about his slow development since the conclusion of her pregnancy. Then she got concerned due to her baby’s peaceful demeanor; he never screamed. She told her doctor about her concerns, and he ordered a battery of tests to figure out what was causing her problems.
Three tough years followed, with Louis suffering from bronchiolitis and pneumonia on many occasions, necessitating lengthy hospitalizations. Louis, on the other hand, has recently turned five, started to walk, and received a new little brother.
The amazing thing is that he encourages everyone who approaches him to love more unconditionally without giving speeches or performing great actions. It’s an unconditional self-giving love that transcends divides.
A new perspective on diversity
Florence, confronted with her son’s fragility, decided to love, despite any hurdles or challenges, throughout the many hours she spent sitting on an uncomfortable chair at the hospital. “Becoming what you should be, Louis, will set the world ablaze!” she said at the moment.
That’s when she made the decision to live with her flaws for the rest of her life. It was a shift in her outlook and heart that she has carried with her ever since. She explained to Aleteia, “my perspective on people has drastically shifted after Louis’ birth. Louis resurrected me. When I’m talking to someone, I try to look at them as if I’m talking to Louis: without judgment, with an all-encompassing, insane love. Having Louis in front of me is, in the end, a continuous reminder to broaden my horizons. The more I adore Louis, the more I love my other children, too, with this revolutionized, surprised heart, and it enables me to tolerate their flaws,” she says.
“What he has is a condition, not who he is.”
Florence is alert to Louis’ seemingly miraculous tenacity, strength, kindness, and abandonment, despite his handicap. “The condition is what he has, not who he is,” she says emphatically. She is greatly moved by his determination to learn to walk, speak, and move… She cries, “I wouldn’t have had the patience!”
He also has the wonderful ability to let his heart speak till the adults who hold him in their arms are moved to tears. “He embraces with incredible depth,” Florence exclaims.
They’re heart-to-heart embraces with no words, but a lot of power, since I see a lot of people weep! What power he possesses to be able to nestle in the arms of an adult while being so little and make them cry without saying a word!
All of the resources of kindness, listening, and empathy that Louis inspires in people who approach him, who cradle him in their arms, Florence wishes to share.
“It is the Lord who leads us through Louis.”
Florence is a devoted Catholic who has been reciting the Rosary live on Instagram every morning with her family during the pandemic. “The Lord is in Louis’ heart; He is in Louis’ presence,” she is certain.
This profound assurance enables her to pray to God and ask, “Lord, alter our hearts and minds so that we realize that this kid, who is behind in everything, will guide us because it is You who guides us through him. We’ll make mistakes and weep, but we’ll keep moving forward”.