He is our grandson.

We have one week to go till our Baby J is due to be born! I am excited. I am scared. And then I am excited again. As we near this date, I continue to read and connect with other people who share similar experiences. This morning I read an incredibly moving blog. Those words prompted these words:

We have a grandson.
He has Down syndrome.
He is not Down syndrome.
He is our grandson.

Comments

Inspiration and Inclusion

This is going to be a long post, so fair warning. In the past 24 hours two seemingly unrelated events came together for me to experience a “big enlightenment.” In fact, it was so big I had to share. It began in a meeting for a college organization that I have facilitated for the past two years - a wonderful group of master teachers who share strategies for engaging students in the learning process. We watched a TEDx talk by professor John Boyer from Virginia Tech. (If you can find 14.49 minutes in your busy day I strongly recommend you watch.) His delivery style made me uncomfortable. His words inspired me. The second event happened last night. My daughter shared some more pictures of Wes. I’m sharing one of those here. This set of pictures affected me like none before. And that’s when I had the big enlightenment. Bear with me please. John Boyer speaks of inspiration and how we have lost that ingredient of education through the constant focus on standardization of learning objectives...

Happiness versus Joy

October is Down syndrome awareness month , so like I do every single day, I am thinking about Wes. Specifically, I'm thinking about how amazingly supportive my face-to-face friends and my Facebook friends have been over Wes and Down syndrome in general. People always comment when I post pictures of Wes or when I talk about things that we've done with him. But one of the things that is said most frequently is either, "THEY are always so happy!" or "HE is always so happy." I'm not really offended by it, but it stirs up a little something in me that I think I need to put in words. And please, I get it! When someone says that about a person who has Down syndrome, I realize they are saying it with love and compassion...letting me know th at not only do they "see' me and "see" Wes, but that they acknowledge and support us. The intention is good and pure and positive. But let's talk just a minute about the truth...the truth abou...

He Is Here!

My last blog post was on August 26th. In the early hours of August 29th (3:30 am to be exact), we got "the call!" By 6:00, we had purchased plane tickets and were out the door. I vacillated between wanting to scream excitably in public, to crying, to hand wringing. And the layover in Atlanta almost caused a necessity for institutionalization on my part. But...we made it, and we made it in time! We actual followed my daughter and son-in-law to Prentice Women's Hospital from their Oak Park residence. Other than my husband coming within inches of rear-ending my son-in-law's car on the way, the trip was uneventful. We could see Jaime clutching the upper door handle when she was having contractions, so we felt like we were a part of everything. We were even allowed to visit her in the labor/delivery room, and during one such visit at about 10:00 pm, the doctor said, "You can push." Oops! We were still in there, so guess what? ...

Loving Baby J

Search This Blog