• My 50-year-old brother with Down syndrome moved in with me and my husband this year. • Mark and I became very close, especially after our parents' divorce. • After dropping off my daughter for college, I focused on signing up my brother for classes.

The week before my husband and I were supposed to become empty nesters, piles of laundry, bedding, suitcases, pink sparkly boots, Oregon Ducks hats, and shirts crowded the living room of our small cottage.

Some of the piles belonged to our daughter, on her way to a university residence hall. Some belonged to my 50-year-old brother Mark, who has Down syndrome, and asked in August if he could move in with us.

We were very close growing up

My brother was born without any health issues, a robust, blond-haired baby, in 1975. "He'll never b

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