If you’ve heard the Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber song “10,000 Hours,” you’ve probably had it stuck in your brain (more than once). If not, a new viral video released by Arkansas parent Nicole Powell is going to have it permanently lodged there. The video, which was released on December 30, shows her 6-year-old son, Rayce, tenderly singing it to his baby brother, Tripp, and the internet can’t get enough of it.
The infant, who lives with his family in Cabot, Arkansas, had a difficult birth.
Tripp was born with Down syndrome and spent the first few weeks of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit. His family, including his elder brother, Rayce, visited the hospital every day during that period.
From the moment [Tripp] was born, Rayce was like, ‘Hand me the baby,’ Powell said. Each day after school, he would just talk and talk to Tripp, informing the baby all about his day.
Every time it would come on, he’d just tell Tripp, ‘This song’s for you,’ Powell said.
She finally recorded the heartbreaking footage on her phone and decided to post it on Facebook. The video had ten shares when she went to bed last Monday. It had risen to a startling ONE MILLION views by the time she awoke the following morning.
He sings to him all the time, she went on to say. He swears he wrote this song about him and his brother.
This is how Rayce bonds with Tripp. He sings to him all the time. He swear this song is about him and his brother. He’s singing, “I’d spend 10,000 hours, and 10,000 more if that’s what it takes to learn that sweet heart of yours. I might never get there but I’m going to try if it’s 10,000 hours or the rest of my life, I’m going to love you.” Love doesn’t count chromosomes, or as Rayce says, “Aren’t we all different?”🥰💙💛 follow Tripp’s journey TeamTripp #DownSyndrome #NothingDownAboutIt #Brotherlylove #ProudMomma
Posted by Nicole Powell on Monday, 30 December 2019
In case you hadn’t noticed, the lyrics are really good. Rayce may be heard singing the following lyrics in the video: “I’d spend 10,000 hours, and 10,000 more if that’s what it takes to learn that sweet heart of yours. I might never get there but I’m going to try, if it’s 10,000 hours or the rest of my life, I’m going to love you.”
It would be beautiful to see any small guy softly singing this to his newborn sibling. But there’s something about this family’s narrative that makes it even more touching.
Love doesn’t count chromosomes, Powell said at the conclusion of her piece. Or, as Rayce says, ‘Aren’t we all different?’
The little clip immediately moved many netizens, who expressed love and positivity toward the family.
Powell, a mother of five, elaborated on her background on Facebook.
When they first learned about their son Tripp’s Down syndrome diagnosis while she was pregnant, they told their oldest boys Jayce and Rayce about it, she said in a subsequent post on January 3.
She wasn’t sure how her kids would respond, but it didn’t take long for her older two to show that they were ready to be responsible and loving big brothers.
Later that night, she went to Jayce’s Snapchat because she noticed he had uploaded a photo, and she saw this. On his own, he Googled ‘Down syndrome’ and created his own ‘ribbon,’ she went on. She was only six months pregnant at the time, so the tears flowed. Then they had Tripp, and Jayce said, ‘I made him something during free time in class.” I have it in my desk, I’ve been waiting until he was born to bring it to him.’ It was the same ribbon as before.
The sweet video has become a message of optimism and comfort, particularly to parents of special-needs kids.
At first, she had no idea why such a small video of two brothers bonding went viral, Powell said in another Facebook post Wednesday. What was the point of it? However, in the past several days, she had gotten many letters from mothers. Moms who are still pregnant and have obtained a positive [for Down syndrome] diagnosis Moms who have not given birth yet have not yet informed anybody.
To Powell’s amazement, these ladies all came to her seeking words of support, messages of optimism, or anything that may reassure them that their infants would be able to live happy, “normal” lives.
Can you believe it? she said. She, the one who was frightened, nervous, sick, anxious, and angry for the last five months of her pregnancy.
In the end, Powell doesn’t dispute that a diagnosis like this is frightening for any parent, whether it’s their first or fifth child. But the incredible love she (and certainly, her sons) have for their newest addition, she now adds, is beyond words.
It’s scary to get news about one’s kid that isn’t ‘perfect,’ she added, but she promise one it will be perfect. It may not be the world’s idea of perfection, but it will be to one. Months of concern vanished the moment she heard Tripp scream. She didn’t care that he had Down syndrome any more; all she cared about was that he was well.
