The Lucky Few…
March 19th, 2017
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A beautiful story of Down syndrome and adoption. Meet Heather, Josh. Macy, Truly and August.
Because we adopted our children with Down syndrome, a lot of people will say I chose Down syndrome. But just like every other mama I know who is lucky enough to have a child with Down syndrome, it chose me. True, we had the option of saying “no” to adopting our Macy, but in an unexplainable way, really, we didn’t. Saying “yes” to adopting her, in-spite of and because of her Down syndrome never really felt like a choice because it was always what we were meant to do. And it was our best yes ever! The second she entered our lives she was my daughter and I was her mom.
I found Ruby’s Rainbow years after bringing Macy home. I had heard there were programs at colleges for students who have Down syndrome but I hadn’t thought much about it. Enter RR. I remember the first time I heard about them, probably through Instagram, and I saw my daughter’s face in the face of the students who have Down syndrome who are attending college thanks to the work RR is doing, and it became personal, and real. As the mother of children with Down syndrome (we went on to adopted another child with Down syndrome) I have always believed my children can do anything they dang well want, and then here was an organization who believed it too and was committed to showing the rest of the world this truth. Holy smokes, I was an instant fan!
Something I wish I knew when we first brought Macy home was to always assume competence and require the same from every single person in my children’s lives. While I did always believe my children with Down syndrome could do anything they put their minds to I was unknowingly putting parameters around what that could be, based on the misconceptions and ignorance society has put so loud in our ears. But when I approach each new milestone or endeavor assuming my children are competent and requiring their teachers, family and friends to think the same way, I am allowing doors to open for my kids that would not have otherwise and educating a society which honestly has no idea what it really means to have Down syndrome.
I am a huge fan of Down syndrome. The beauty and richness and straight up awesomeness I get to experience on the daily because of my kids who have Down syndrome makes me believe I am the luckiest woman I know. In fact, I’ve had the humbling honor of sharing our life’s journey as well as shouting the worth of people with Down syndrome in a book I wrote called “The Lucky Few”. If you have a chance to read it, awesome, but if not, I get the feeling if you are reading this you know what I mean when I title my book—title my life—the lucky few.
Guys…go get this book NOW!!Heather is an amazing mom and friend and we couldn’t be more excited and proud of her!!!!
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